Hang in there, California: wild fires

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Vendor

Are you ok now buddy?

I saw this 'Highest temperature on Earth' as Death Valley, US hits 54.4C' https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53788018

That's 130 F. the alltime recorded high...and I was working on my tan....

As temperatures soared in California, a large "firenado" was observed on Saturday in Lassen County.

[vienna]

He's OK; Death Valley is an almost 500 mile drive from his home in Napa; CA is a huge state and has many climate zones and Napa is way up to the North of San Francisco; the area there is seeing some very unusual high temperatures in the 90s F, when the norm is around the 70s this time of year; here in the Southern CA area, we are seeing temps in the mid-90s and low 100s; I just saw a weather report saying the nearby city of Lancaster recorded a Monday high of 111 degrees, and that is not a desert area; suffice to say it has been a bit 'toasty' of late and the trend is expected to continue for several more days; the worst part here in SoCal is we have a combination of very high heat, high humidity, and bad air quality caused by smoke from various brush and wildfires in the area, the resulting inversion layer making the air a bit stifling with or without a face mask...




<O>

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

That's 130 F. the alltime recorded high...

There have been numerous higher temperatures but they remain unverified to this day.

I personally remember it hitting 50C when I was working in Khorramshahr which necessitated the taking of salt tablets on an hourly basis.

Strange thing was, at night the temperature could plummet to 5C

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Vendor

Are you ok now buddy?

Originally Posted by vienna

He's OK;

YUP! I'm always ok ....but I used to be fabulous though It's the 'new normal!' and the general impression of late: God ain't happy... Temperature to be at 104 F. today! ...

[Mr Quatro]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

I saw a display of God's power one time ... I was high on a cliff above La Jolla, CA just sitting in my car. I could see out to sea for miles when this awesome thunder and lightning storm developed.

You could feel the power and the smell of the air was different too.

Never forget it

[vienna]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

YUP! I'm always ok ....but I used to be fabulous though....

<O>

[vienna]

Originally Posted by Mr Quatro

I saw a display of God's power one time ... I was high on a cliff above La Jolla, CA just sitting in my car. I could see out to sea for miles when this awesome thunder and lightning storm developed.

You could feel the power and the smell of the air was different too.

Never forget it

Back in the early 70s, the segment of Intestate 5 running through the San Joaquin Valley in CA was opened and was along, long, desolate straight line stretch of about 300 miles; there were no gas stations, towns, rest stops, or anything else other than bleak wide open spaces, something I hadn't seen since a trip through Texas; traffic was also very sparse since the stretch was brand new and the accommodations were non-existent; I was co-driving a load of furniture in a 24 foot truck and we decided to try out the new stretch of road, after first fueling up and stocking up at the beginning of the stretch; we were driving overnight from LA to San Francisco and the segment was mainly pitch black as road lighting was very far between in most of the run; about halfway through, a giant lightning storm brewed up and it was spectacular; the bursts would light up the road and its surroundings in flashes strobe light effect; at one point my co-driver and I turned to look at each other as we had the same thought; we were the highest point in a very flat stretch of land and, on top of that, we were a massive chunk of metal; we immediately stopped our sightseeing of the pretty lights and floored it to get the hell out of there as fast as possible...





<O>

[Buddahaid]

Still hot but not as bad as yesterday so maybe I'm getting used to it. It sucks when you can't wait to open up the house and let the fans cool it down overnight only to be assaulted by a skunk somewhere close at four in the morning!

Opened up now at quarter to seven and all I smell is a fire somewhere in the region.

[Aktungbby]

power out in northwest Napa up to St Helena since 1700 hrs, my daughter at her museum there reports extreme smokiness; no AC, no WIFI; I'm on an old ellipsis jet pack EDDO to operate my Samsung tablet. A massive mushroom cloud from the Hennessey fire now at 12,000 acres looms to the north. The neighbors are out socializing 'cause at 95 F. It's actually cooler outdoors. PG &E as yet has no cause for the outage to 13,000 customers...in the middle of a heat wave....better save batts! AK out!

[Buddahaid]

My daughter is hanging out in Petaluma instead of heading home to Napa. PG&E isn't indicating the power outage is planned.

[Buddahaid]

Power is back in Napa.

[Aktungbby]

^YUP LATE SUPPER WITH LITTLE CAESAR'S PIZZA! still 92F. ! UPDATE: the five fires all burning currently in Napa are now dubbed the LNU Lighning Complex Fire and have thus far consumed 32,025 acres and three structures. The ash on my car and smoke however are from neighboring Sonoma county which also has lightning generated fires.

Governor Gavin Newsom today secured two Fire Management Assistance Grants  (FMAGs) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help ensure the availability of vital resources to suppress  the LNU Lightning Complex Fire burning in Napa County and the Jones Fire burning in Nevada County.The FMAGs, which are provided through the President’s Disaster Relief Fund on cost-share basis, will assist local, state and tribal agencies responding to the fires to apply for 75-percent reimbursement of their eligible fire suppression costs.
The LNU Lightning Complex is comprised of two separate fires (Hennessey Fire and Gamble Fire) under a single incident management team. Together, the fires have burned 7,700(now 32,000) acres, causing evacuations and threatening homes near Lake Hennessey and Zinfandel.
In Nevada County, the Jones Fire has burned 550 acres and is causing several evacuations and school closures in the areas west of Nevada City.
The recent sustained high winds have made an ideal environment for dangerous fire conditions throughout the region, and the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued Red Flag Warnings for the area.

[Gerald]

Has the situation improved now....?

[Buddahaid]

Not really. Northern CA is now entering into the fire season and the threat will remain until the rain begins toward the end of the year. When and how much rain will decide when that threat is ended. The recent weather with the lightning is not typical and has been an unwelcome cause of the current fires. Weather does play a hand, as always, but it is usually from heat and high winds instead of heat and lightning strikes.

You have to also understand that CA is a huge state with many different climates and complex weather. For myself and Aktungbby, it's the area along the north side of the San Francisco bay area for about a hundred miles and stretching from the Pacific Ocean inland for another hundred miles. Essentially the heart of the traditional California wine country although that has greatly expanded since the state is abundant in agriculture and cash crops are always in a state of flux. When I was a kid in Napa during the 1960's, prune orchards were an abundant cash crop. Those are now all gone and have been replaced with wine grapes, or housing.

[Gerald]

I am aware of the large area that exists, and I discovered this earlier when I was in the Bay Area for the first time. And in some of the surroundings.