Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Re: [californiadisasters] Digest Number 1424



Thanks for posting this, Kim.  The devastation created by this inundation of rain will take some time to be resolved.

RE:
"The mountains received totals of 10 to 28 inches, highest in
the Lytle Creek drainage and Crestline area. "

Our rain gauge in Crestline (5200 feet) recorded over 33 inches of rain during the six day period described below.  (We're showing over 46 inches for the season so far.)  I'm sure it was more in the higher elevations that were below snow level.  It truly was relentless at times.  (One day over 10 inches, one day over 8 inches and one day over 6 inches of rain.)

This is what brought down Highway 330, the major artery to Running Springs and the Big Bear area.  There is not much media coverage of this event but since the road repair is expected to take at least one year Running Springs and Big Bear area merchants have already suffered greatly, and will suffer more.  Some are likely to loose their livelihoods due to this closure.  Any patronage of them would be most appreciated, I'm sure.

Dennis Robertson
Crestline, California


At 04:27 AM 1/22/2011, you wrote:

4.

Nonstop Rain Inundates Southern California




Posted by: "Kim Noyes" kimnoyes@gmail.com   noyeskim




Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:29 pm (PST)




*Nonstop Rain Inundates Southern California*
*by Alex Tardy and Miguel Miller*
A plume of moisture across the east Pacific began to develop during the
middle of December. Light precipitation began across the San Bernardino
Mountains as early as the 15th, but then in-creased over the mountains and
in the lowlands and coast on Thursday and Friday December 16th and 17th. By
Friday night, 1 to 3 inches of precipitation had occurred across the San
Bernardino Mountains and snow levels were near 8000 feet.
Steadier widespread rainfall began on the 17th and 18th across Orange County
and the Inland Empire. Rainfall rates up to 0.30 inches per hour oc-curred
across the south facing slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains. By the
evening of Sunday the 19th, total pre-cipitation reached near 10 inches in
Lytle Creek and the first significant flooding commenced. Runoff from the
mountains also sent high waters into the Whitewater drainage bringing down
boulders and large amounts of mud. Satellite imagery depicted anonymously
high moisture levels across Southern California that extended southwest
into the tropics.
On Monday December 20th, the low pressure system remained anchored over the
eastern Pacific and had moved little, but began to move towards the West
Coast tapping into
the high moisture plume that existed across Southern California. Heavy rain
moved into Orange County and spread southward over San Diego County.
Rainfall rates increased
significantly to 0.50 to 0.75 inches per hour across the high terrain and up
to 0.25 inches in the valleys. This caused more flooding on Lytle Creek
where it left its banks and caused water to cross roads. Landslides resulted
Monday and Monday night and several rescues were required due to high water
flows across the entire area. Snow levels on Monday remained above 8000 feet
but lowered to 6500 feet on Tuesday. Total precipitation amounts reached
just over 20 inches in parts of the San Bernardino Mountains and 2 to 5
inches in San Diego County. The last significant and heaviest surge of
precipitation moved into extreme southwest California during Tuesday
afternoon and continued into Wednesday morning December 22. This rainfall
brought 2 day totals just over 4 inches in downtown San Diego and 5 to 10
inches to most areas. The steady rainfall tapered
off Wednesday morning with additional showers and isolated thunderstorms
that continued into Wednesday evening as the final cold front swept through
the region. Significant flooding occurred in San Diego County Tuesday night
and Wednesday when the San Diego River rose to just over 14 feet, the
highest rise since 1980.
Major landslides and flash flooding impacted the communities of Laguna
Beach, Apple Valley, along the Whitewater Channel in the Coachella Valley
near Palm Springs, Highland, Corona, Loma Linda, La Jolla, and the city of
San Diego from Tuesday into early Wednesday December 22th. Rainfall totals
for the entire week of 5 to 10 inches were widespread along the coast and
inland valleys. The mountains received totals of 10 to 28 inches, highest in
the Lytle Creek drainage and Crestline area. Heavy wet snow accumulated
above 6500 feet with amounts over 6 inches and as much as 2 feet above 7500
feet.
*Some Background *
This plume of moisture has been called the "Pineapple Express" or "Pineapple
Connection" in the past, and has been called colloquially the "hose". But
recent research names this phenomenon an "atmospheric river". California
meteorologists have long known that these "rivers" can set up across the
ocean for days. They are not unusual, and a few times a decade on aver-age
they will sock Southern California. One such river produced more than 40
inches of rainfall in the mountains of southern California in only four days
in early January 2005. That, in turn, caused a massive mud-slide in La
Conchita, Calif., that took 10 lives and pro-duced widespread flooding. Many
atmospheric rivers form in the mid-latitudes when cold fronts concentrate
mois-ture into narrow ribbons as it is transported toward the poles.
Occasionally, atmospheric rivers tap moisture directly from the tropics. In
these situations, the likelihood of devastating rainfall and flooding—such
as what occurred in La Conchita—increase significantly. The above graphic
illustrates the isolated nature of this particular weather problem.
California is the national capital of multi-day precipitation totals that
exceed 16 inches.
Source: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sgx/newsletter/current-newsletter.pdf
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