Breaking the waves

( Los Angeles Breakwater - 1999)

Construction of the L.A. Breakwater begun in 1899 and was completed by 1912.

The main purpose of the breakwater is to protect the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach from large waves/swells.

Take a stroll

(San Diego - May 2005)

Nice weather to take a stroll along the waterfront or anything you care to do outdoors this week.

Partly to mostly sunny skies with the usual night and morning low clouds and fog along the coast and in some valley locations.

Temperatures will remain near seasonal normals for the most part.

No precipitation expected what so ever.

Fog rolling in

(Pismo Beach - - August 2001)

The marine layer (low clouds and fog) is a typical weather feature along the California coast.

The most common time of year for this... is during the early summer time (June). During this particular time of year... often the low clouds and fog will stick around for the entire. Many will call this time of year the "June Gloom".

Winds of change

The "Mojave Wind Farm" (picture above) has over 1,000 wind turbines. At max compacity it can supply enough clean(non polluted) power for up to 56,000 southern and central California homes.

There is proposed plans in the works for future expansion of the site. Hopefully have enough turbines for enough power for up to 250,000 homes in region.

The "Mojave Wind Farm" is located off the 58 Freeway near the city of Mojave.

Twilight

(Twilight - - October 2005)

How are we doing for rainfall so far this year in southern California?

Downtown Los Angeles:
Actual: 2.06" Departure from Normal: -0.65"

San Diego Lindbergh Airport:

Actual: 0.36" Departure from Normal: -1.53"

Dry weather will likely continue for the remainder of this month.

Virga

(Dying summer time thunderstorm)

Pictured above is a dissipating desert thunderstorm with virga. The term "Virga" means rain evaporating before it hits the surface.

Blazing Sunset

(San Luis Bay -- August 2001)

A more typical January day for the southland on Wednesday compared to Tuesday's mild temperatures...

Partly cloudy in most locations with light winds. Temperatures in the be the 60s... coastal and valley areas, 40s and 50s in the mountains and in the 50s and 60s in the deserts.

This trend will likely continue for the next several days.

Lighter winds on the way!

(Near San Clemente Island - - August 2004)

Winds have decreased quite a bit across the southland as of late Tuesday afternoon.

Still some wind gusts up to 25 mph or so...mainly in the mountains and valleys.

The winds will continue decrease through Tuesday evening across mountain and valley areas. With Light winds under 10 mph expected in all areas on Wednesday.

Southland Weather

The winds are blowing...

(Lake Arrowhead - March, 2003)

Strong winds will continue across southern California through at least Tuesday afternoon. The strongest of the winds will occur during the morning hours (from just after sunrise through mid morning...then during the early evening hours).

Some wind gusts as of 3:00pm/pst Monday afternoon...

• Thousand Oaks: 37 mph
• Malibu Canyon: 41 mph
• Warm Springs: 52 mph
• Cheeseboro: 71 mph
• Newhall Pass: 53 mph
• Burbank: 33 mph
• Camp Nine: 64 mph
• Wiley Ridge: 65 mph

At one time Monday morning over 77,000 SoCal Edison customers were without power.

These dry/windy conditions make for ideal conditions for brushfires.

On Monday... Several reports of wind fanned brush or structure fires.

More Weather/Brush fire information at:
Southland Weather

Beautiful end to the day.

(Pt. Loma at Sunset -- October 1997)

Update - 4:30pm/pst Sunday 01.22.06

Strong and gusty winds for the southland through Tuesday afternoon.

A tight ne/sw pressure gradient will be the primary cause of these high winds.

Wind gusts of 60 to 75 mph are possible through and below passes and canyons of the southland.

35 to 50 mph gusts are possible in the valleys and some favored coastal locations. 25 to 45 mph gusts are possible in downtown L.A. and over much of Orange County.

Further details on this wind event at...

Southland Weather

Southern California Weekend...

(San Diego Bay - - August 2004)

Nice weekend for just about any activity you have plan in southern California. Mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the 60s for the coastal and valley areas, 40s and 50s in the mountains and in the 50s and 60s in the deserts.

Breezy at times...especially through and below passes and canyons.

Next significant wind event may come Sunday night and Monday

Smokey sun up

(Sunrise -- September 09, 2005)

This sunrise image was a result of atmospheric scattering of incoming solar radiation by the small smoke particles.

Red-White-Blue

(Sunset - - July 8th, 2005)

Did you Know?

...Dust in the air reflects and absorbs blue light. The dust...and some gasses too...in the atmosphere is blown up from the surface by the winds, and are responsible for these colorful sunrise/sunsets that have been displayed all of this week on this blog.

Stormy summer sunset

(Sunset - - July 20, 2005)

A thunderstorm was taking place at the time of the pictured sunset.

This day in History...

Thirty-seven years ago, twin Southland storms that began Jan. 18 and ended Feb. 25 forced the evacuation of an estimated 6,000 people in seven counties, virtually wiped out the Ventura marina and caused more than 90 deaths.

Source: KTLA TV/Los Angeles Times

Glowing desert sunset

(Sunset - - July 9th, 2005)

High cirrus clouds from the anvil top of a distant thunderstorm made for this glowing summer sunset.

Today in History:

4:31am, Monday, January 17th, 1994:
M6.7 Northridge Earthquake

• 72 deaths, 1,500 injured
• $44 billion damage
• 12,500 structures had moderate to severe damage

More on the Northridge earthquake...

Also on this date in History...

Benjamin Franklin discovered the "Lightning Rod".

Sun going to bed

Sunset on January 11, 2006

Pre frontal cirrus/cirrus stratus clouds made for this beautiful sunset.

Each day this week... i will have a new sunrise/sunset picture. Besure to check back!

The Wolf Moon

The name for January's Full Moon... "The Wolf Moon" came from the indians.

Hungry wolf packs would howl at the sight of the moon just outside indian villages.

Skies should be crystal clear tonight to see the "The Full Wolf Moon" across all of southern California...but it will be breezy to windy in many areas.
...Also it will be rather cold.

Rainy days...

--Update: 2:30pm/pst, Saturday, January 14th, 2006--

Frontal system has fizzled out over the southland.

Rainfall amounts so far have been light (under a tenth of an inch) for the most part.

Through tonight...
Scattered showers will be decreasing in areal coverage. Some isolated areas (especially favored mountain slopes) may recieve an additional tenth of an inch.

The big story over the next 36 to 48 hours will be the cooler temperatures. Temperatures will be in the upper 50s to the lower 60s for the most part over the L.A. Basin.

Breezy to windy conditions can be expected along the foothills, mountains and desert regions through Monday.

Detailed forecasts at...
Southland Weather

Calm before the storm...

(Panorama View of Cajon Pass - May 2005)

Update: 4:30pm/pst Friday, January 13th, 2006

The storm now appears that it wont have as a great of impact on southern California than once thought.

Majority of the energy will now move through the northern half of California. The system will still swing a cold front thru through southland during the day Saturday... reaching Santa Barbara County late in the morning then L.A. and Orange Counties during the early to mid afternoon hours...and finally San Diego County and the Inland Empire during the late afternoon or early evening hours.

There will be a 2 to 4 hour period of steady light to moderate rainfall associated with the passage of the front then then some lingering scattered shower activity for several hours after the frontal passage.

Rainfall amounts...

• Coastal & valley areas: 0.25" to 0.75"
• Mountains below 4,500': 1.00 to 1.50"
• The deserts: 0.10" at the most

Snowfall amounts...

• Mountains of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties above 4,500':
  3 to 7"
• Moutnains of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties above 5,000':
  3 to 6" with some locally higher amounts at the higher peaks.

Latest weather information at...
Southland Weather

Colorful Sunset

Ice crystals in the Cirrus clouds made for this colorful winter sunset Wednesday evening.

A winter storm has the potential of bring a partially wet or snowy weekend to the southland.

1 to 2" of rain Saturday and Saturday night...coastal and valley areas and up to several inches of snow in the mountains.

Snow levels will this storm will be much lower than the storm earlier this month. So a fresh layer of snow can be expected at all ski areas.

More on this storm and its impacts tomorrow.

Way back when...

Lake Arrowhead (March 2002)

Snow in Los Angeles?

That's exactly what fell on this date back in 1949. Snow accumulated on the beaches of Malibu and Santa Monica. Snow covered the sidewalks of downtown L.A. and Beverly Hills.

For the first time ever snowplows were seen scraping away the new fallen snow off the streets of many southern California communities.

Here a few snowfall totals from January 11th, 1949

• Downtown Los Angeles: 0.30"
• Long Beach 1.00"
• Laguna Beach: 1.00"
• Burbank 4.70"

One year ago...

Hollywood Hills - - August 1983
(Hollywood Hills are well known for mudslides)

Today (January 10th, 2006) is the one year anniversary of the massive La Conchita mudslide.

It was estimated over 600,000 tons of earth came crashing down on the small Ventura county town that day...killing 10 people, destroying 13 homes and damaging 23 others.

Tranquil Weather

(Sunrise in the Mojave Desert - - August 2005)

Nice weather will start the work week here in the southland...

Mostly sunny skies...except for patchy late night and morning low clouds and dense fog at some of the beaches from the South Bay area of L.A. County southward into San Diego County.

Breezy conditions can be expected from time-to-time through and below mountain passes and canyons (especially in Santa Barbara, Ventura and L.A. Counties).

Some computer models are indicating unsettled weather for the southland next weekend. But it's too far ahead to accurately forecast.

Heading for the Slopes...

(Snow Summit - March 2002)

Recent storms that hit the southland during the past week or so...have done very little to help the lack of snowpack on the local ski slopes.

Most resorts are currently reporting bases of 8 to 12" with packer power along with machine groomed conditions.

Daytime temperatures will range from the 50s to the 60s for the next few days along with breezy conditions at times...especially at Mt. Baldy.

No snow is predicted for the up coming week.

View the latest ski conditions and live views at your favorite resort!

Winter sunset...October warmth

(Winter Sunset - - January 3rd, 2006)

October like weather in January?

That's what we will be experiencing here in California for the remainder of this week.

High pressure over the Great Basin will produce a fairly strong offshore pattern.

Temperatures will approach or exceed record levels
(especially coastal and valley locations) through at least Friday.

The downside to this pattern will be the gusty winds. Gusts to 50 mph will be possible especially through and just below passes and canyons.

Surf's Up...

High Surf will continue to batter the southern and central California coast through at least Wednesday.

Surf exceeding 10 feet are possible (especially on exposed west facing beaches).

Surf will subside late in the week.
Little more on Monday's storm...

Daily rainfall records were set at several locations across southern California...including...
Downtown Los Angeles... 1.57" Old record: 1.41" set in 1879
Ontario Airport... 0.70" Old record: 0.08" 2004
Palm Springs Airport: 0.13" Old Record: 0.03" in 1982

Medium range models are indicating that the storm track will shift to north of region for the remainder of this week and over the weekend.

Stormy Southern California

Stormy beginning of the new year here in California.
Heavy rains with continued threat of flooding statewide.
Chance of thunderstorms with the possibility of small hail and gusty winds will exist in central and southern California.
Snow will fall in the high country mainly above 5,500' in north and 7,500' in the south.
Accumulations of several feet possible with blowing and drifting snow.

(Above photo was taken in October of 2005)