There's Always The Weather

[transward (imported)]

I drove through a rather nasty thunderstorm yesterday but it wasn't big and after that there wasn't rain, not last night, or today. None predicted for a few days. Colorado seems to be getting it. It's the 1% storm - the once in a hundred years rainstorm, as they say at the weather bureau. Don't get too excited about that "1 in 100" stuff. It really does mean that in all of the recorded data, Colorado experience rain that heavy (that many inches of water) only once in a hundred years of observing... And a "1 in 500" year storm is one that has only been recorded once in 500 years. As we all know, 500 years isn't that long. We've had four of them since the Birth of Christ and Six or Eight 500 year periods since the pyramids were built. Julius Caesar is close to five 500 year periods back in time. George Washington not even one period.

Not that I minimize the destruction. That's truly terrible. They are suffering in Colorado.

Talked to my 93 year old parents in Colorado Springs. Dad said they had 11 inches of rain in one day and 20 inches in five. The average total rain for an entire year normally is 16 inches. Two thirds of Colorado are the Rocky Mountains, which are rock and have little ability to absorb rainfall, so it all has to run down narrow canyons, sometimes in 20 foot walls of water, torn down trees, and rocks washing out roads, bridges and human construction. Amazing destruction.

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[A-1 (imported)]

Talked to my 93 year old parents in Colorado Springs. Dad said they had 11 inches of rain in one day and 20 inches in five. The average total rain for an entire year normally is 16 inches. Two thirds of Colorado are the Rocky Mountains, which are rock and have little ability to absorb rainfall, so it all has to run down narrow canyons, sometimes in 20 foot walls of water, torn down trees, and rocks washing out roads, bridges and human construction. Amazing destruction.

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Destruction?

If Yellowstone everblows its top in our lifetimes, that's when you will really see destruction. In 5 years or so you won't be able to tell that this flash flooding happened.

From time to time there are horrible localized destruction incidents connected with stalled weather fronts and associated flash flooding. It can even happen in desert topographies. Mountain canyons are particularly susceptible to this.

The smart thing to do when you are looking for a place to live or rent or buy is to pay attention to topography. FEMA has maps available that clearly outline flooding zones. Pay attention to where you are living. Be aware what is likely to happen to you if a weather front stalls and take precautions.

As for you, moi, I am not sure of your exact location but if you are close to the coast there is a definite probability of tsunami for the dwellers of the low coastal areas of California. In this scenario you would likely get little warning. Please look into this and keep yourself safe.

I doubt if it would reach wine country so Jesus is probably O.K.

Macwolfie, are you paying attention?

The rest of you who live close to the west coast beware...

[A-1 (imported)]

It rained last night in Paolo and A-1 land.

Today is sunny, cool, pleasant and BEAUTIFUL!

Today reminds me of a day with my wife when we first met...over 40 years ago... except that was in the Spring and this is Fall. The kicker is, when we are both in a good mood, nothing much has changed...

[Dave (imported)]

Talked to my 93 year old parents in Colorado Springs. Dad said they had 11 inches of rain in one day and 20 inches in five. The average total rain for an entire year normally is 16 inches. Two thirds of Colorado are the Rocky Mountains, which are rock and have little ability to absorb rainfall, so it all has to run down narrow canyons, sometimes in 20 foot walls of water, torn down trees, and rocks washing out roads, bridges and human construction. Amazing destruction.

Transward

One winter I watched the creek that runs through the county park in back of my house overflow. When it froze there were slabs of ice 6 to 10 inches thick and as big as pickup trucks thrown aside when the plows opened the road. Not just a few but three miles of ice blocks... Normally, the creek is less than 1 foot deep with neat pools for fishing when they stock it... IT is also a plaything for kiddies in the summer. That much rain in a short period is destructive, I've done calculations on water flow during river flooding in Pittsburgh and the amounts of water are nearly unbelievable. More water than steel produced in the World by weight. More water than the gravel that is used on all roads in the USA. The force it carries as it flows is devastating. (Flow in pipes and weirs is first year chemical engineering, easy stuff)

I don't think I ever want to see a wall of water 20 feet high.

[transward (imported)]

Destruction?

If Yellowstone everblows its top in our lifetimes, that's when you will really see destruction. In 5 years or so you won't be able to tell that this flash flooding happened.

From time to time there are horrible localized destruction incidents connected with stalled weather fronts and associated flash flooding. It can even happen in desert topographies. Mountain canyons are particularly susceptible to this.

The smart thing to do when you are looking for a place to live or rent or buy is to pay attention to topography. FEMA has maps available that clearly outline flooding zones. Pay attention to where you are living. Be aware what is likely to happen to you if a weather front stalls and take precautions...

That may be the silliest argument I have read in a long time. If Yellowstone erupts on a scale like the geologic record shows it has before, the destruction, human, economic and ecological, will dwarf every natural disaster since the beginning of human history. And five years after the tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands in Southeast Asia a few years back, tourists in the area would barely be able to see the damages. I would hardly consider the tsunami damages insignificant.

In the mountains, roads follow and are built close to the creeks and rivers for obvious reasons; that's how you get through. The flooding this time was unprecedented in scale, all along the Front Range, and it took out hundreds of roads and bridges, which will have to be rebuilt, isolating dozens of communities and developments, in terrain that makes finding alternate access difficult or impossible.

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[moi621 (imported)]

The solid gray of yesterday has yielded to patchy clouds today with cool, but not sweater requiring fresh air. That Autumn scent is still missing although the rest of the "feel" is there.

From my 142' elevation above the threatening ocean a mile away, there is just a minimal increase in mist.

Some corn is ripening in my garden box and the healthiest brown rats you ever saw feed in my bird feeder. OFBK watches their access hole in the fence on occasion.

I planted 2 new peach trees of the yellow, freestone variety having enjoyed my white, Babcock peaches to much. The new trees are about 8'. One 24 gallon and one 15 gallon.

Autumn is my favorite season. It always has been.

YEA AUTUMN



The feel good season.

Moi

Hey, at 65 I'm in the Autumn of my life, sort of, huh ?

Maybe early Winter

[transward (imported)]

One winter I watched the creek that runs through the county park in back of my house overflow. When it froze there were slabs of ice 6 to 10 inches thick and as big as pickup trucks thrown aside when the plows opened the road. Not just a few but three miles of ice blocks... Normally, the creek is less than 1 foot deep with neat pools for fishing when they stock it... IT is also a plaything for kiddies in the summer. That much rain in a short period is destructive, I've done calculations on water flow during river flooding in Pittsburgh and the amounts of water are nearly unbelievable. More water than steel produced in the World by weight. More water than the gravel that is used on all roads in the USA. The force it carries as it flows is devastating. (Flow in pipes and weirs is first year chemical engineering, easy stuff)

I don't think I ever want to see a wall of water 20 feet high.

I got that figurer from the last great Colorado flash flood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Thompson_River

On July 31, 1976, during the celebration of Colorado's centennial, the Big Thompson Canyon was the site of a devastating flash flood that swept down the steep and narrow canyon, claiming the lives of 143 people, 5 of whom were never found. This flood was triggered by a nearly stationary thunderstorm near the upper section of the canyon that dumped 300 millimeters (12 inches) of rain in less than 4 hours (more than 3/4 of the average annual rainfall for the area). Little rain fell over the lower section of the canyon, where many of the victims were.

Around 9 p.m., a wall of water more than 6 meters (20 ft) high raced down the canyon at about 6 m/s (14 mph), destroying 400 cars, 418 houses and 52 businesses and washing out most of U.S. Route 34.[5] This flood was more than 4 times as strong as any in the 112-year record available in 1976, with a discharge of 1,000 cubic meters per second (35,000 ft³/s). The flooding this year was worse.

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[Lesley (imported)]

To all of you on this post. It is all about GLOBAL WARMING!

[Paolo]

Global "weirding".

When the average surface temperature of the planet hits +110F, call me.

[Riverwind (imported)]

That should happen in about 3 years.

Has anybody else noticed we keep getting these 100 year storms every year?