(NASA JPL) A new time-lapse animation of data from NOAA’s GOES-West satellite provides a good picture of why the U.S. West Coast continues to experience record rainfall. The new animation shows the movement of storms from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3.
NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites or GOES-West imagery from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 was compiled into a 36 second video made by NASA/NOAA’s GOES Project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The video shows a low pressure system several hundred miles west of California on Nov. 30. South of the center of the low, a large stream of moisture from the Pacific Ocean was swept up and transported east over the southern part of the state and Baja California, Mexico. Over the course of Dec. 1, 2 and 3 as the low approached the coast the stream of moisture merged with the low, bringing more rains to southern California on Dec. 3.
Water managers are not calling the storm that dropped several inches of rain onto Southern California on Tuesday, Dec. 2, a drought-buster, and climate scientists are not labeling it an El Niño event.
Bill Patzert, climatologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California who studies ocean patterns, said “scientists have not yet declared an El Niño, and if they do, it would be weak and not necessarily bring torrential rains like in 1997 through 1998, the year that super El Niño’ storms drenched Southern California.”
Patzert called the storm a pineapple express of tropical origin that met up with a low-pressure system off the coast. “It is warmer moisture – like a fire hose aimed at us from the south of Hawaii,” Patzert said. “This is an event. It is not a pattern.”
According to the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles, rainfall on Dec. 2 in downtown Los Angeles was 1.21 inches, setting a new record for that date. The previous record was 1.10 inches that fell in 1961. The Los Angeles International Airport recorded a record-breaking 1.12 inches of rainfall on Dec. 2, beating the 1966 record of 0.73 inches.
In Santa Barbara even more rain fell, where a record-breaking total measured was 2.14 inches on Dec. 2. The old record was set in 1966 when 2.12 inches of rain fell. Records were also set on Dec. 2 in Lancaster Fox Field, Calif. with 1.14 inches of rain, Sandberg with 1.49 inches, Palmdale with 1.20 inches, and the Long Beach Airport with 1.04 inches. Further south at Fullerton Airport, a record-setting 0.58 inches fell on Dec. 2.
There is some good news from the rainfall. Patzert pointed to the wetter chaparral in the Southern California foothills “tamping down the prospect of extreme wildfires when the Santa Ana winds are expected to return shortly.” He also pointed up north to snow falling in the Sierra Nevada. Snowpack in that region is where the state gets 95 percent of its water. .
To create the video and imagery, NASA/NOAA’s GOES Project takes the cloud data from NOAA’s GOES-East satellite and overlays it on a true-color image of land and ocean created by data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites. Together, those data created the entire picture of the storm and show its movement. After the storm system passes, the snow on the ground becomes visible.
GOES satellites provide the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. Geostationary describes an orbit in which a satellite is always in the same position with respect to the rotating Earth. This allows GOES to hover continuously over one position on Earth’s surface, appearing stationary. As a result, GOES provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric “triggers” for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes.
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Did anyone see this coming?
Very interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Flood_of_1862
“The Great Flood of 1862 was the largest flood in the recorded history of Oregon, Nevada, and California, occurring from December 1861 to January 1862. It was preceded by weeks of continuous rains (or snows in the very high elevations) that began in Oregon in November 1861 and continued into January 1862.”
See also – ARkStorm
No story here, wait till the typhoon hits the Philippines, if its a catagory1 or higher, its being caused by GW and it will be all over the news.
http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/western-pacific/2014/Super-Typhoon-Hagupit
Quite a bit north of where they first predicted…Still a very strong storm.
One of the dire predictions for the storms was catastrophic mudflows, which actually have been modest so far. Some believe that CO2-enrichment of the atmosphere has resulted in more robust root systems and consequent retarding of slope failure. It will be interesting to see how that pans out.
The weatherman on a local, Sacramento radio station called it “The storm of the century of the year’, I think to emphasize the hyperbole generally used in describing such events as this.
It may not be an official El Niño but it sure feels like an El Niño here in northern California. Storm after storm with few breaks in between and all of them very warm. The wet season has just barely begun.
Its certainly been a very interesting year in terms of the Pacific SST. With the strange eastern pacific blob which likely played a part in this event and light El Nino like temperatures without the corresponding El Nino wind bursts. IMO something has changed in the Pacific and its so very interesting to see this new behaviour emerge with the modern measurement methods. Time to look away from the models and learn as much as we can.
Its because we have been cold (10 degrees below normal) dry and sunny for weeks, lots of lovely high pressure over BC. Unfortunately we’re back to Pacific weather, so we are taking our rain back. Sorry California. Are the reservoirs full yet?
Nope, according to the California DWR the reservoirs are at 49.72% of historical average as of midnight 12/4/14. Those of you in BC will need some additional sunny weather this winter to help out California.
Meanwhile, from the Ministry of Endless Catastrophist Spin ….
“Woooorrrrrrrrrrst drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrought innnnnnnnnnn 120o yearrrrrrrrrrrrrrs!”
I heard some reports of 8 inches of rain in S. CA over those 3-4 days. Where can you find that information on precipitation measurements?
No mater how much rain you get during a drought, “they” always say it’s not a drought buster. I guess it all just goes back into the ocean.
It’s actually not a drought buster because we rely so much on storage. For storage (both above and below ground) to be restored to a normal level we’d need north of 200% normal precip this season. Or, several normal to slightly above normal seasons in a row. However, my point remains, regarding the exaggerated claim of the drought severity.
For example, there is strong evidence of a 50+ year mega drought within the past 1200 years.
My parents in Santa Cruz tell me, almost every time we talk, how nicely it is raining but “it’s only a drop in the bucket with this terrible drought we have.” sigh.
Their typical meteo analysis is neglecting high pressure anticyclones…
1) advection of moist air on the back of a continental MPH of 1041 hPa centered on SE USA Dec. 2
2) advection of moist air on the front of a Pacific MPH of 1031 hPa centered on Hawaii and descending fast southward from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2
Therefore it is the strength of high pressure systems descending from the poles -i.e. colder air masses- that penetrated deeper southward and thus advected all this moist air on their edges. If anything the repetition of such events would be in dire contradiction with the idea that a global warming is taking place.
well, according to my trusty redneck rain gauge, we got 3″ here in my part of The Valley.
not the earth ending flood they threatened in the news, nor even close to a record for our yard, but a respectable bit of irrigation. off hand i’d say it was as much, maybe more, than what we got all last year.
but until i see more storms, and more rain, i’m unconvinced the drought is over.
So is this now a “wet drought’?….
they always make a big deal about the how oh the whole California is going to shrivel up and die now there drowning in Heavy rain that just will not stop. Central valley is getting pounded as well. San Francisco lets not even go the there. Flash floods in the winter! Thunderstorm in that place!? Could this be the same event that happened in 1997?? when Cheyenne my girl was born this could be why she is so beautiful. Even Las Vegas, NV is been so humid and Foggy humidity struggles to get under 30% usually the humidity is at 50% at night. This is globle warming. Fog in Las Vegas, NV is extremely (was) extremely rare. Non warm lively and muggy version of Monsoon season just swinging from the Northwest.