California's Freakish Weather: Hail, Tornadoes, Mudslides, Fire

[jamiehall]

Here are a few of the articles:

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-weather23-2008may23,0,242784.story

http://www.pe.com/localnews/morenovalley/stories/PE_News_Local_D_weather23.4024c7d.html

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/mud-weather-canyon-2050157-debris-creek

http://www.ocregister.com/community/mud-slams-into-2049428-canyon-homes

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080523-9999-1m23weather.html

Very scary! And there might be more freakish rain today. If you've got friends in the area, you might want to contact them.

[Seaclusion]

It comes with the territory. Mudslides in the fall, earthquakes in the winter, wildfires in the spring and riots in the summer.

Richard

[johnnysannie]

And the rest of us are not so far behind in weird, severe weather and weather events these days.....

It's going around.

[DWSTXS]

That's nothing.

Heck, that's just one DAY in Texas.

[Dawno]

Woke up this morning, opened the door in my office to let in the morning breeze and smelled smoke. Checked the local news and there's a rather large wildfire burning in the Santa Cruz mountains, about 15 miles outside of San Jose. The fire map shows it much further away, but I guess the prevailing winds are bringing the smoke and odor this way.

We had a week of unseasonably warm weather last week and high winds yesterday that I thought might be bringing rain.

[Shadow_Ferret]

Isn't that all normal for California? I'm always reading about mudslides, wild fires, and earthquakes. Those are the reasons I don't LIVE in California.

[DWSTXS]

Isn't that all normal for California? I'm always reading about mudslides, wild fires, and earthquakes. Those are the reasons I don't LIVE in California.


I always thought California was the Land of Milk and Honey. That the weather was always perfect.

The two times I've visited the weather WAS perfect. The traffic was sparse and courteous, and the whole thing seemed like heaven.

[maestrowork]

It's a normal season for California. My cousin is moving away from the San Bernadino mountains, though. She's tired of all the forest fires, one of which stopped only a 100 yards from her house last year.

[Shadow_Ferret]

I always thought California was the Land of Milk and Honey. That the weather was always perfect.



The two times I've visited the weather WAS perfect. The traffic was sparse and courteous, and the whole thing seemed like heaven.

You're thinking Hawaii.

[johnnysannie]

I always thought California was the Land of Milk and Honey. That the weather was always perfect.

The two times I've visited the weather WAS perfect. The traffic was sparse and courteous, and the whole thing seemed like heaven.

You sure weren't there when I was, then!

[Siddow]

I always thought California was the Land of Milk and Honey.



California is the Land of Fruits and Nuts.

Milk and Honey is Wisconsin. Or is it Beer and Cheese?

[maestrowork]

California is the Land of Fruits and Nuts.


Correction: it's the land of cereal -- flakes, fruits and nuts.


Blame Dawno.

[Shadow_Ferret]

California is the Land of Fruits and Nuts.

Milk and Honey is Wisconsin. Or is it Beer and Cheese?
Beer, cheese, and brats.

Our slogan is, "Wisconsin, Come smell our Dairy Air."

[jamiehall]

Isn't that all normal for California? I'm always reading about mudslides, wild fires, and earthquakes. Those are the reasons I don't LIVE in California.

No, a number of meteorologists and weather experts are describing it as being off the charts for this time of year (particularly the rainfall). To quote from the second article I linked:


"It's not just unusual, it's extremely unusual," said Bill Patzert, a climatologist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. "You would expect this in January, February or March, but not in May."

[DWSTXS]

You're thinking Hawaii.

nope. never been to hawaii. Would like to go though.

It actually was L.A. for 3 days.

Then, a year later, Drove from Reno to San Fran, then down the PCH to L. A.

[maestrowork]

There are parts of LA that are really idyllic. Pasadena, for example -- I really like that town.

[Medievalist]

No, this is not normal. It's 53 degrees in Santa Monica, ten blocks from the beach.

We had hail yesterday afternoon, and lightening.

We don't get lightening. We just don't. More rain this morning, and more to come--May and June are hazy am, highs in the low seventies, and no, as in none, raine.

[DWSTXS]

No, this is not normal. It's 53 degrees in Santa Monica, ten blocks from the beach.

We had hail yesterday afternoon, and lightening.

We don't get lightening. We just don't. More rain this morning, and more to come--May and June are hazy am, highs in the low seventies, and no, as in none, raine.


Once, in Kansas, and once in Dallas, I have seen lightning during a snow storm.
very cool.

[Dawno]

That is entirely too weird weather, Lisa. I hope it improves drastically and soon.

We might get showers tomorrow and the temps will be low 70s. I think that's a bit odd for the end of May up here, but even though I've lived up here for 12 years now, I really have no idea.

[jamiehall]

Once, in Kansas, and once in Dallas, I have seen lightning during a snow storm.
very cool.

It's called thundersnow.

[SHBueche]

I am in Central Texas and we've been battling 100 degree temps, for a week, now. North Texas seems to be where all the freakish weather patterns are occuring.

Now, back to beer and cheese, when can I visit?

[MattW]

If it weren't for droughts, the rivers would have turned to blood long ago...

[chartreuse]

No, a number of meteorologists and weather experts are describing it as being off the charts for this time of year (particularly the rainfall).

Yep...strange weather a lot of places this year. Here in the NW we've been 10-15 degrees below normal for most of the spring, except for the three days it was in the 90's.

We've had more incidents of hail this spring than I've ever seen, which, along with some of the very cold temps, has caused problems with some of the crops. It's also caused many people to have to do an extra fill-up on oil - we had to refill at work just several weeks ago, and at home a few weeks before that. Neither of those would have been necessary in a normal year. When I called for the delivery at work the lady said it's just been crazy this year, with people getting really stressed because nobody planned on having to pay for an extra tank of heating oil, especially with prices like they are.

[maestrowork]

Talked to mom. She said they're okay but tornadoes not far from them. Also people are reporting seeing mass number of frogs jumping out of the rivers. Is it the Apocalypse? Crazy people?

[chartreuse]

Talked to mom. She said they're okay but tornadoes not far from them. Also people are reporting seeing mass number of frogs jumping out of the rivers. Is it the Apocalypse? Crazy people?

Uh oh....maestrowork, WHERE IS YOUR MOTHER????

Weird frog activity was reported right before the China quake.

[chartreuse]

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ihAgYnb8oiLkzdoKTk4S3nM1CsrQ

To predict quakes, listen to the animals, China survivors say

15 hours ago
TANGSHAN, China (AFP) — Well before this city was destroyed by an earthquake 32 years ago, the coming disaster was loudly preceded by strange animal behaviour and other bizarre signals that survivors wish they heeded.

"The animals were trying to tell us something. If only we knew that, not so many people would have died," said Fu Wenran, a retired farmer whose wife was among the estimated 240,000 who perished in Tangshan's quake on July 28, 1976.

Several survivors of the disaster in this northern city -- still the deadliest earthquake of modern times -- said the toll in this month's quake in southwestern China could have been minimised if such clues had been validated.

Chinese media reports and Internet blogs have buzzed with reports of mass migrations of thousands of frogs and toads near the quake region in Sichuan province just before the May 12 disaster, which left more than 80,000 people dead or missing.

(rest at link)