[Robrites]

From the Oregonian newspaper..

More than a third of an inch of rain overnight pushed December's rainfall total in Portland to 13.52 inches, officially breaking the previous wettest December record of 13.35 inches set in December 1996.

It's also the all-time wettest month ever recorded at the airport, officials said.

The National Weather Service in Portland said the record was broken at 6:53 a.m. Monday.

The December 1996 pushed the total for that year to a record 63.20 inches, the wettest year at Portland International Airport since record-keeping began there in October 1940.

The record for December rainfall in downtown Portland is 20.14 inches set in 1882. The year-end total for 1882 was a whopping 71.82 inches, nearly 6 feet of rain in a calendar year.

Despite a dry start, Portland's yearly rainfall through Dec. 20 stood at 38.20 inches, 3.99 inches above the average of 34.21 inches. Last year at this time Portland had picked up 38.65 inches for the year.

Rain has fallen every day in December, with a record 2.67 inches on Dec. 7 - the highest daily total - and .02 of an inch on Dec. 14 - the lowest daily total.

Rain remains in the forecast through Thursday, forecasters say, with the potential for a damaging windstorm Monday afternoon.

[45th]

rain and warmer weather is melting any small snow I had...but the deer are moving

I grow near water, so no projected worries.

[Robrites]

[coconutcurry]

Weather is going nut everywhere. Drought in California, floodings in the UK and crazy warm weather in Germany. Birds are breeding and cherry trees are blossoming here. Temperatures are about 60 °F for weeks now.

Have you read?

Freak storm in North Atlantic to lash UK, may push temperatures over 50 degrees above normal at North Pole
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...at-north-pole/

For the Californians:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NkCKYh8L1s

I fear El Ninjo is everywhere.

[Robrites]

Over the last several weeks, snowboarders and skiers alike have reveled in what seems to be bountiful Sierra Nevada snow.

All that powder has enabled even weary state water officials to express some optimism, a feeling buoyed Wednesday when surveyors took their first manual measurement of the Sierra snowpack and found more than 54 inches.

But for all of the excitement, the state’s broader drought outlook remains uncertain.

Although there was about twice as much water in the state’s snow as there was on the same day last year, and five times as much as the year before that, it still just amounts to an average total.

“Last year was so abysmally bad that even coming up to the average we have now looks good,” said Department of Water Resources spokesman Doug Carlson.

Snowpack is important because it melts during the spring and summer months and refills the state’s reservoirs. Officials say that in normal years the snowpack supplies about 30% of California’s water. They have also said that the state needs a snowpack equal to 150% of average by April 1 to have any chance at ending the drought.
On Wednesday, electronic readings from 99 stations throughout the Sierra Nevada showed that the snowpack statewide held 10.2 inches of “water equivalent” — or about 105% of average for the day.

The manual survey, taken at a single station about 90 miles east of Sacramento, was more promising but less telling. It found 54.7 inches of snow on the ground — 16 inches above average. The water held in that snow amounted to about 136% of normal for the site.

[trichrider]

[Robrites]

It is dissipating just as it showed up — rather unexpectedly.

For two years, an enormous expanse of extremely warm water in the northern Pacific Ocean has wreaked havoc on marine life from Alaska to Mexico, and altered weather patterns across North America, causing droughts and intensifying hurricanes.

It also helped produce this year’s powerful El Nino.

The phenomenon has beleaguered and mesmerized oceanographers. So much so that dozens of them gathered at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego in April to discuss it and its impacts.

Now, this blob — as it has come to be known — is starting to dissipate.

That’s good news, right?

Yes, and no.

“From an oceanographer’s perspective, we are eager to see normal conditions come back in the Pacific,” says Richard Dewey, associate director of science with Ocean Networks Canada, an initiative of the University of Victoria.

The blob has been extraordinary, in intensity and longevity, he says. “We are talking about a million square kilometres of ocean that is 3 C warmer … that represents a lot of heat.”

He’ll be relieved to see it go, he says, adding it will take a few months for it to disappear.

The problem is that the blob is a terrifying glimpse into what the future, driven by a changing climate, likely holds for us, says Dewey.

Blobs like this one could become frequent. If this warm blob is something that occurs every 10 years as opposed to every 100 years, it will mean a major change for the northeastern Pacific, he says.



Read the rest at The Toronto Sun https://www.thestar.com/news/world/20...good-news.html

[Robrites]

The new year’s first serious bout of wet weather driven by El Niño is forecast to hit the Southland this week, as several winter storms dump up to 6 inches of rain — double the normal total for the month of January — in and around Los Angeles.

The storms, which according to the National Weather Service will begin Sunday night and potentially last through Friday, will bring an increased risk of flooding, mudslides and dangerous surf in a region that so far has had an exceptionally dry winter.

The NWS predicts that the first spell of heavy rain will last from Sunday night through Monday morning. A second, more durable storm system should move over Southern California on Monday and Tuesday nights, bringing up to 4 inches of rain in some areas and possibly more than a foot of snow in the mountains. A final storm is expected to bring moderate rain on Thursday and Friday.

[sacramental]

From what I've heard el ninos Come every 7 years or so. Depending on if we get hot or cold air running through California we will get the snowpack we need. Now if our government could build the necessary dams instead of breaking them down and if they quit sending the water down the hill is another question. Nature is nature and will continue to do its thing. I don't read too much into scientific research because they are only computer models and that's all. No computer model will show our future.

[Robrites]

The series of storms impacting the West Coast this week will be a bit different than what the region has experienced in recent months. This go around, even Southern California can expect a decent helping of much-needed rain and mountain snow. For parts of the Siskiyous and Sierra, as well as parts of the Four Corners, expect hefty amounts of snow to pile up through the week ahead.
This will add to a Sierra snowpack that is much more substantial than at the same point last year. According to the USDA/NRCS, through Jan. 1, 2015, the Sierra snowpack was 100 percent or more of average for the season.