Author Topic: Monthly reports for the Northern California 2016-17 rainy season.  (Read 11571 times)

elagache

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Dear WeatherCat drought watchers,

As last year, I thought I would report the rainfall situation here in the San Francisco East Bay.  As you might have heard on the news (or the forum!  :) ) it has been unusually wet this October in the Western United States.  The rain kept coming through last night, so I couldn't finally get a total for October until today.  Here is the graph:



This October was the second wettest in the 7 year operation of Canebas Weather Station.  It was only topped by the extreme rains caused by Typhoon Melor in 2009.  We received 5.21" (132mm) of rain which is 380% of a normal October.  It was sufficient rain to almost reach the cumulative totals expected for the end of November!

At the moment the forecasts aren't looking so favorable for November, but long term forecasting remains more an illusion than a science.  Only time will tell.

Cheers, Edouard

elagache

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November's report (Re: Northern California 2016-17 rainy season. )
« Reply #1 on: December 01, 2016, 11:37:40 PM »
Dear WeatherCat drought watchers,

Northern California ended up having a very poor November as far as rain.  It was dry for almost 3 weeks of the month.  The rain that fell at the end of the month was only able to make up for about 1/2 of a normal November.  Nonetheless, because October was so wet we remain above normal for the wet season through December 1st:



So for the moment it is very much "touch and go" for Northern California at least.

Oh well, . . . . Edouard

Blicj11

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Re: Monthly reports for the Northern California 2016-17 rainy season.
« Reply #2 on: December 02, 2016, 01:13:07 AM »
Thanks for the report. We have had more snow in October and November than we has been the case in the 9 years of my weather station installation. These are the same storms that are into your area. Keep sending them.
Blick


elagache

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December's report (Re: Northern CA 2016-17 rainy season. )
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2017, 12:14:02 AM »
Dear WeatherCat West Coast drought watchers,

Another month has passed so here is the report for the December rainfall at Canebas station.  We had several "atmospheric river" rain events so we picked up a lot of rainfall - 163% of normal to be exact. Here is the graph illustrating the point:



Thus far, this rainy season we are at 125% of normal through December 31st.

Cheers, Edouard

elagache

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January's report (Re: Northern California 2016-17 rainy season. )
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2017, 10:54:42 PM »
Dear WeatherCat West Coast drought watchers,

No rain is expected through the end of January so I decided to write up this month a bit early.  As reported during the month, Northern California ended up with epic rainfall for January:



As you can see from the graph we have already received more rainfall than we normally expect for the entire rainy season!

January brought 246% of what normally falls this month.  As a result, we have 180% of the rainfall we would expect to have through the end of January for the season.

We are expecting another reasonably potent storm at the end of this week.  However, at the moment the weather is unusually warm and pleasant because of a very strong ridge of high pressure.  While we do need to dry out, we definitely do not need a 180 degree turnaround with an extended period of dry and warm weather.  The National Weather Service, Monterey office had some ominous words at the end of this afternoon's discussion:

Quote
Fairly strong indications that the next round of widespread rain will be it for awhile. The outlook for all of next week is for warmer than normal temperatures with drier than normal conditions as the ridge rebuilds back into the southwest Conus.

The Climate Prediction Center is less pessimistic with normal conditions expected for Northern California on the 6-10 day, 8-14 day, and experimental week 3-4 outlook.

Cheers, Edouard

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Re: Monthly reports for the Northern California 2016-17 rainy season.
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2017, 11:33:10 PM »
Nice while it lasted. We set a record here with 10 feet of snow in January, containing almost 5 inches of water. 4 months into the water year and we are more than half way to the annual average. It's been a good winter for water in most of the West, so far.
Blick


Steve

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Re: Monthly reports for the Northern California 2016-17 rainy season.
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2017, 05:38:27 PM »
We set a record here with 10 feet of snow in January, containing almost 5 inches of water
Wow, that's a lot drier than I'd have expected. That's only a ratio of about 4%. Ours is typically in the 10-20% range for our wet, sloppy snow.
Steve - Avon, Ohio, USA


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Blicj11

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Re: Monthly reports for the Northern California 2016-17 rainy season.
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2017, 10:07:27 PM »
Our snow here is usually powder, with only a couple of wet storms each winter. The state ski industry calls it the Greatest Snow on Earth. On average we run about 12% in terms of the water to snow ratio.
Blick


elagache

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Back to the yo-yo? (Re: Northern California 2016-17 rainy season. )
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2017, 11:48:21 PM »
Dear Blick, Steve, and WeatherCat climate watchers,

Nice while it lasted. We set a record here with 10 feet of snow in January, containing almost 5 inches of water. 4 months into the water year and we are more than half way to the annual average. It's been a good winter for water in most of the West, so far.

Well, that gloomy bit of forecast discussion has turned gloomy of the opposite variety.  Instead of 1 storm we are getting at least 2 perhaps 3 and once more there will be an atmospheric river tap that could bring once more a lot of rain.  So Northern California is once more staring at potential flooding problems.  Even the Climate Prediction Center is forecasting above normal rainfall in the 6-10 outlook.  However the 8-14 day outlook puts Northern California at the edge of below normal rainfall.

We shall see!

Cheers, Edouard

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Re: Monthly reports for the Northern California 2016-17 rainy season.
« Reply #9 on: February 04, 2017, 10:39:10 PM »
Edouard -- How do you create that beautiful chart ("Monthly and Cumulative Precipitation for Orinda, CA - 2016-2017")? I'd love to make one showing the precipitation in our area.

elagache

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Oh da' shame!! . . . (Re: Northern California 2016-17 rainy season.)
« Reply #10 on: February 04, 2017, 11:05:58 PM »
Dear Grand and WeatherCat infomaniacs, . . .

Edouard -- How do you create that beautiful chart ("Monthly and Cumulative Precipitation for Orinda, CA - 2016-2017")? I'd love to make one showing the precipitation in our area.

 [wink] . . . . . Oh da' shame!!  I won't be able to show my face in public no mor' . . . . . . .  lol(1)

Actually, I just created a simple Excel spreadsheet and used its graphing capabilities.  Since I process the numbers manually at the end of each month, this works just fine for me.  I can send you the spreadsheet, but it is truly just a quick and dirty set of tables.  If you have access to Excel or equivalent, you might be better off to start of scratch and avoid my clumsiness!

Cheers, Edouard

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Re: Monthly reports for the Northern California 2016-17 rainy season.
« Reply #11 on: February 05, 2017, 05:43:20 PM »
Quote
Actually, I just created a simple Excel spreadsheet and used its graphing capabilities.

I use Excel too, but I don't know how to embed a bar chart in a line chart like you did. You are the master, teach me oh honored one. (Or you can send me the Excel spreadsheet in a personal message and I will seek guidance from your enlightened example.)

elagache

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REMEMBER! You're ASKIN' for IT! (Re: 2016-17 rainy season. )
« Reply #12 on: February 05, 2017, 10:34:02 PM »
Dear Grand and WeatherCat tinkers who have forgotten why they bothered . . . . .  :o

I use Excel too, but I don't know how to embed a bar chart in a line chart like you did.

 [wink] . . . . So you think I still remember after all these years?!?!?? . . . .  [biggrin]

You are the master, teach me oh honored one. (Or you can send me the Excel spreadsheet in a personal message and I will seek guidance from your enlightened example.)
 

 [wink] . . . .  Remember!!  You're Askin' for it!! . . . .  lol(1)

Okay to keep things simple, I've attached the spreadsheet to this post so anybody who is curious can take a peek (assuming they have Excel of course.)  However, this spreadsheet is a throwback to my Fortran programming days.  Don't expect any comments or nothin'!!  (Even my Fortran programs weren't this bad!  ;D )

Enjoy!  :) or grumble  >:( or something  ??? . . . . . . .

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

The Grand Poohbah

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Re: Monthly reports for the Northern California 2016-17 rainy season.
« Reply #13 on: February 06, 2017, 12:25:23 AM »
Got it. Thank you.

The "trick" is to create a line chart for all the data. Select the line you want to change to a bar chart, control-click it and select "Change Series Chart Type..." Select a bar chart type. That's it!

Blicj11

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Re: Monthly reports for the Northern California 2016-17 rainy season.
« Reply #14 on: February 06, 2017, 08:57:56 AM »
That is why he is known as Edouard the Magnificent.
Blick