"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape — the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show."
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), peintre américain qu'adorait mon frère
"Je préfère l'automne et l'hiver, quand on perçoit le squelette du paysage — sa solitude, la sensation de mort de l'hiver. Quelque chose y est dissimulé, on ne connaît pas toute l'histoire".
Patatras! Ça y est! La neige arrive sur la Californie et la Sierra Nevada. Et ça ne rigole pas! Il va falloir suivre attentivement l'évolution des événements. Je m'étais bien habitué à l'idée d'avoir de bonnes conditions l'été prochain. Mais d'un autre côté, comme ils le disent, c'est tout de même inquiétant pour eux que l'arrivée d'une perturbation météo en janvier fasse les grands titres des journaux...
San Francisco Chronicle:
Bay Area weather: first cold then rain, snow
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
 
Freeze Warning for much of the SF Bay Area tonight
IMAGESRELATED CONTENT
Monday night pinpoint forecast
BAY AREA WEATHERMORE BAY AREA NEWS
Freezing early morning temperatures today will give way to the first respectable storm in nearly two months later this week, according to the National Weather Service.
Farmers, firefighters, water watchers and home gardeners will heave a sigh of relief Wednesday evening if the National Weather Service's prediction comes true and the rain begins to fall across the North Bay.
Over the next four days, a string of low-pressure systems will make their way across Northern California, the weather service says, bringing rain and wind to the Bay Area and - finally - snow to the Sierra.
"I don't have a bad thing to say. This is all good," said Dave Baker, an almond farmer in Modesto.
Baker, like many farmers from Napa to Bakersfield, has been keeping one eye on the reservoirs since November, when California got its last serious storm. The reservoirs aren't in bad shape, thanks to all the rain and snow that soaked Northern California into late spring last year - but a full December and half of January with virtually no rain will get people nervous.
Cause for excitement
"It is not small talk in this industry to talk about the weather," said Jennifer Putnam, head of a group that represents Napa Valley grape growers. "People are excited around here. The mood has changed dramatically."
The freezing temperatures expected today are the first sign that the weather is shifting, said Bob Benjamin, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. Oakland is forecast to drop to 32 degrees, San Jose is expected to hit 31, and Santa Rosa's low is predicted to fall to a numbing 22 degrees.
Even downtown San Francisco, where the mercury rarely falls into the 30s, will hit 38 degrees, Benjamin said.
Rain should start falling in the North Bay on Wednesday evening and spread across the rest of the Bay Area on Thursday, Benjamin said. Heavier rain could move in late Thursday or Friday and continue on and off through the weekend.
The rain is coming from a series of weather systems, the timing and strength of which are difficult to predict.
"It could fall really heavy one moment in one place and then give way to gray skies," Benjamin said. "As we get a little closer (to the end of the week), a lot of this will become more definite in terms of timing and inches."
Time for football
And what of the 3:30 p.m. Sunday kickoff time for the NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park between the 49ers and the New York Giants?
Rainy, Benjamin says, but probably not a monsoon.
It's worrisome that a January rainstorm has become something that gets people talking, said Lee Hudson, who owns the Hudson Vineyard in Napa. Hudson said he won't breathe easy until the fields are soaked and the mountains are full of the snow that provides California with much of its water supply.
"We're 20 inches behind the eight ball, so we need 2 to 3 inches a week to catch up," Hudson said. "I wouldn't mind being sick of rain right now."
E-mail Will Kane at wkane@sfchronicle.com.
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Reno Gazette Journal:
Snow ends run of record drought in Reno area
The snow dusting in the Reno/Sparks area Sunday night into Monday morning ended a record 56-day winter drought and may signal more moisture to come, a weather expert in Reno said.
7:40 PM, Jan. 16, 2012 |
The area received more precipitation Sunday night into Monday morning than anticipated, National Weather Service Meteorologist Scott McQuire said Monday.
That’s because the cold front that followed the windy weather was joined by another band of moisture that enhanced the weather pattern to the north and east of Reno and Sparks, he said.
“We ended up with anywhere from an each to a half inch in town and out east of here in Spanish Springs and Sparks, and down I-80 with anywhere from an inch-and-a-half to 2 inches,” McQuire said.
The previous winter record drought of measurable precipitation was 54 days, which ended Jan. 24, 1961, McQuire said.
“The snowfall this morning ended the longest winter season... dry spell in recorded history at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, which is the official point of measurement,” McGuire said. The winter season runs from November to March.
The drought was 1.83 inches below normal precipitation for that normal period, he said.
“If you are a skier, and you’ve been waiting for some precipitation then your wishes will finally be answered,” McQuire said.
More measurable precipitation is expected across the region starting Wednesday and going through the weekend, McQuire said.
AH ! ENFIN !
RépondreSupprimerPour tout conseil concernant microspikes, piolets ou cordes (voir raft ou bateau) pour traverser les rivières, veuillez contacter Elodie et Stéphane ... eh eh eh :-)))