The 8-Station Index Reaches 100% of Normal

The 8-Station Index has reached 100% of normal for the first time this winter.  

The 8SI Sierra Nevada Precipitation Index is arguably the single most important metric of California water supply. It’s a snapshot of the overall wetness that includes both snowpack and rainfall for the major watersheds of the upper Sacramento, Feather, Yuba, and American Rivers. These in turn feed into some of the largest of the California reservoirs (i.e., Shasta, Oroville, and Folsom).



As of February 21, 2024, the seasonal (i.e., July 1 to June 30) rainfall was 35.14”, compared to a normal of 35.12” for this date. [Normal for the entire July 1 to June 30 season is 52.81".]



Jan Null, CCM
Certified Consulting Meteorologist
Golden Gate Weather Services
Office: (650) 712-1876
Mobile: (510) 928-2824
Email:
jnull@ggweather.com
Web:
http://ggweather.com

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El Niño Winter Forecasts - Past and Present


 

This is a consolidation of the forecasts for last winter (2022-2023) and what eventually occurred as well as five of the forecasts for this upcoming winter (2023-2024). They are in two sets, one for the period of December-January-February (DJF) and then January, February-March (JFM). All of the forecasts from last year and this year were made in September. (In another post, I will look at how some of the forecasts evolved through subsequent months). I will leave it to the viewer to evaluate the veracity of last winter's forecasts. 


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Half Moon Bay Buoy Returns to Service with a Saildrone


Since 1980, the Half Moon Bay Buoy (officially National Buoy Data Center #46012) has been monitoring weather, sea, and wave conditions off the coast. Besides being used by meteorologists for their forecasts, fishermen, boaters, surfers, and scientists rely on it to monitor conditions. Anchored about 24 miles west-southwest of Pillar Point, the buoy collects and transmits a wide array of meteorological and oceanographic parameters (i.e., wind speed, wind direction, wind gusts, air temperature, dew point temperature, sea temperature, sea-level pressure, significant wave height, average wave period and dominant wave period) that is archived by the National Buoy Data Center.

In February Buoy 46012 failed and was towed to port.  Earlier this month, as an interim measure, the buoy was replaced with a Saildrone; an uncrewed data-collecting platform that will monitor the same parameters that the previous buoy did. Saildrones are made by an Alameda company, Saildrone Inc. They are bright red vessels, with a 23-foot-long double-kayak body topped by a sail containing an array of sensors and solar panels. In addition to taking stationary buoy measurements, there are literally fleets of Saildrones deployed around the world’s oceans collecting data for a wide array of scientific missions. See https://www.cnet.com/science/autonomous-saildrones-are-the-newest-weapon-in-fighting-climate-change/

The Half Moon Bay Saildrone will be active until at least June 2024. At that time it is to be decided by the National Weather Service if a buoy will be redeployed.


Jan Null, CCM
Certified Consulting Meteorologist
Golden Gate Weather Services
Email: jnull@ggweather.com
Web: http://ggweather.com
Twitter: @ggweather


 

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2022-2023 California Rainfall Season in Review


Today marks the end of the very impressively wet 2022-2023 California rainfall season which began on July 1st. [See https://ggweather.posthaven.com/rainfall-season-vs-water-year for a discussion of why this differs from the Water Year traditionally used by hydrologists]. And while the rainfall totals are huge compared to recent years, they fell well short of being the all-time wettest. Additional links to some of this data can be found at: https://ggweather.com/ca2022rain.htm and https://ggweather.com/seasonal_rain.htm. 




 








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Background Info re Hot Car Child Deaths

Background Info re Hot Car Child Deaths

 

With some warm to hot weather (finlly) on tap for the inland parts of SF Bay Area and interior California, the risk of hyperthermia and possibly heatstroke rises for children, pets, and the elderly. Below are a couple of fact sheets that I hope you will share. There is also a wealth of information available at https://www.noheatstroke.org/ that can be freely used and shared. And by just the right person seeing it, you might save a life.


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Jan Null, CCM
Certified Consulting Meteorologist
Golden Gate Weather Services
Phone: (650) 712-1876
Email: jnull@ggweather.com
Web: http://ggweather.com
Twitter: @ggweather

 

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Meteorologist's Links


Spurred on by the NWS changing many of the URL's for a lot of their text products, I've updated and made some additions to my METEOROLOGIST'S LINKS page at:https://ggweather.com/home.html

Many on this email distribution are aware of this page which has been evolving for probably 20 years with handy links to products that I use almost daily. There are also links here to a number of the other resource pages that I hope are useful compilations in a single source. Enjoy.
T-Storm/Tornado Linkshttp://ggweather.com/tornado.htm
Hurricane Links
http://ggweather.com/hurricane.htm
Fire Weather Links
http://ggweather.com/firewx.htm
El Nino/La NIña Links
http://ggweather.com/enso.htm

Please let me know if you find any errors, broken links, or additional sites that may be of interest to meteorologists and the media.

 


 

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Developing El Niño Comparisons


The eastern tropical Pacific continues to warm toward a likely El Niño event later this summer that is then forecast to continue through the winter. For the first time in 3 years, the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) has moved back into positive territory. (See https://ggweather.com/enso/oni.htm)

This warming is seen in all the Niño Regions with the most dramatic rise in Niño 1+2 off the South American coast where the anomalies are about +2.5 °C. 



Comparing the current event to the two previous “very strong” El Niños in late May of 1997 and 2015 shows several differences. Currently, this year has not warmed as much in the west as prior years. It also shows 2015 as more of a Central Pacific event, with more similarity between 1997 and 2023.


It will be interesting to see how the current event develops over the next six months. Stay tuned.
 
Jan Null, CCM
Certified Consulting Meteorologist
Golden Gate Weather Services
Email: jnull@ggweather.com
Web: http://ggweather.com
Twitter: @ggweather

 

Are California Coastal Water Temperatures Warmer During El Niño?

 

Media reports of late, and during past El Niño events, have attributed the presence of warm water species of marine life along the California coast to El Niño. However, a look at the data doesn't support that conjecture. Contextually, the sea surface temperature (SST) warming associated with El Niño occurs in the tropical Pacific, approximately 3,000 miles away from California, plus there is no physical process where that equatorial water is transported to the California coast. And in the short-term, the current El Niño has not even officially formed yet, and most waters along the California coast are below normal.

Historically, during El Niño winters, there are just about equal chances of coastal water temperatures being above or below normal. The following analysis was done by looking at two separate areas along the California coast. In Northern/Central California the study area was a 2-degree square (36° to 38° N and 122° to 124° W) between about Point Reyes and Big Sur and about 100 miles offshore. In Southern California, the area was a 2-degree square (32° to 34° N and 117° to 119° W) between about Santa Barbara and San Diego and about 100 miles offshore,

During the 13 El Niño events since 1980, sorted by strength, the sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) in the northern area were only warmer than normal in 6 of the 13 years.

And along the southern California coast, the El Niño year SSTAs were warmer than normal in 7 of the 13 years.


Jan Null, CCM
Certified Consulting Meteorologist
Golden Gate Weather Services
Email: jnull@ggweather.com
Web: http://ggweather.com
Twitter: @ggweather

 

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Updated El Niño Precipitation and Temperature Anomaly Maps


I have updated the climatologies of previous El Niño precipitation and temperature anomaly maps, with all new graphics and now using "percent of normal" data. For example, below are the precipitation anomaly maps for the last two strong El Niño's; highlighting that even with a specific ENSO category there can be very large differences. 
PRECIPITATION - https://ggweather.com/enso2023/us_elnino_precip.html
TEMPERATURE - https://ggweather.com/enso2023/us_elnino_temp.html
ENSO Resource Page - https://ggweather.com/enso.htm


Jan Null, CCM
Certified Consulting Meteorologist
Golden Gate Weather Services
Email: jnull@ggweather.com
Web: http://ggweather.com
Twitter: @ggweather


 

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When Will Tioga Pass Open in 2023?

Due to this year's epic Central Sierra Nevada snowpack, current estimates from Yosemite National Park are that Tioga Pass will open later than usual this year; possibly not until July. To put this year into context, below is what has happened in previous years. 






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