Hey West Coasters, look what's headed our way:

[intrepidity]

Thought we've been through the worst? I'm no weather guru, but this looks like it will spell some major troubles for our already saturated ground. Hang on to your hats.

[Walleye]

1. Whoa! Good luck to everybody out there. Stay safe

[padah513]

2. I second that

[Lovie777]

3. Northern California is getting the worse of it .....

I'm here in Southern California, Los Angeles area, steady rain for most of the morning. Flood watch.

[onecaliberal]

18. We have a lot of evacuations around here and I'm in the middle of the state, so not only northern.

We have rock slides and flooded rural cities.

[Beaverhausen]

26. A 15+ foot sinkhole swallowed two vehicles last night - West San Fernando Valley

two women were in one of the cars and had to be rescued.

It's pretty bad down here in SoCal. Montecito is getting hammered.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

4. Yup,

I'm sitting at a truck stop right in the path of that mess, and I'm staying at the truck stop until it passes.

[Walleye]

5. That is very wise

[MarineCombatEngineer]

12. Thanks.

I figure that pulling almost 79,000 lbs. down a highway in drenching rain or snow is probably not a good idea, and I hate bad ideas.

[Walleye]

13. Stay safe, and dry. Glad you're at a truckstop

[2naSalit]

15. Especially if...

Your travel plan takes you over Donner. Just wait it out. Not worth finding out how many poorly skilled drivers are out there trying to test their lack of skills and better judgement against the forces of nature.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

16. No plans on going over Donner Pass,

my route is taking me up the I-5 corridor on into Medford, OR where my delivery is.
I'm a careful driver, if I have to chain up or the rain overwhelms my wipers, then I figure it's not safe to travel and I'll stay where I'm at until I deem it safe to hit the road.

Right now, I'm sitting at a truck stop in Castaic, CA at the foot of the Grapevine just waiting it out.

[Beatlelvr]

21. That grapevine can be treacherous

Smart move to stay put!

[2naSalit]

24. I used to stop there on occasion...

Your philosophy is the same as mine! If I have to sling chains, it's a good time to take nap.

The northern end of I-5 in CA is nothing to take for granted. I've run that route many times.

Castaic, had problems every other time I went through that inspection station. There was always some jerk who would pull me in for inspection, smear a glob of grease on one or two of my brake drums and then watch as I had to crawl under and fix it. They did it because they would see I was wearing shorts or my "truckin' dress" and thought they would get a free peepshow at work. I got them back, I would put on full coveralls before I got out of the cab! Toads. It's not like I could take any action against them, not back in the 70s and 80s.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

25. I'm guessing that you're a woman trucker,

Last edited Tue Jan 10, 2023, 03:01 PM - Edit history (1)

my other truck is driven by my lady friend, and she doesn't take shit from any of the male drivers, she's a retired Marine, like myself, and gives it right back to those that mistake her for being timid.

I've only been stopped twice at the Castaic inspection station, one for being 100 lbs over weight on my trailers rear tandems, which I rectified by sliding my tandems back a notch which solved the issue, and once for a Level 1 inspection, other than that, no problems, but, on the other hand, I have had some difficulties with the Ripon inspection station on the 99, been pulled in for various inspections, passed them all.

[2naSalit]

28. Yup...

Last edited Tue Jan 10, 2023, 02:49 PM - Edit history (1)

I was out there trail blazing from the mid 1970s to early1990s. I sometimes wore a knee-length bib overalls dress and even threw freight wearing it, nobody ever saw my panties.

I also drove some of the nicest rigs as well as some of the nastiest trash on wheels. Glad to hear you have a woman handling your other unit, I'm sure she's worth every penny she earns. Besides, women are easier on the equipment. A good driver deserves nice equipment.

Good thing you have internet and access, back in my day, the most advanced communications we had were ATT phone cards so you didn't have to have change or call collect to arrange for appointments and check-ins. Entertainment was whatever was local if you didn't have a book or something. I kept a sketch pad and pencils and a coloring book along with a deck of cards. I also kept a small backgammon set in case I encountered other bored people waiting out an event.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

29. My lady friend would thank you for being one of the females

opening the door for future women truckers, and so do I.

She is worth her weight in gold, she does all the long haul while I tend to stick to the west coast as much as I can.

Peace out,
Dan.

[2naSalit]

30. I'm glad it was worth it...

For those who follow!

More power to both of you!

[Just A Box Of Rain]

7. I hope you stay safe.

My little patch of home here in Los Angeles is getting a good deal of much-need rain w/o bad consequences, but I’m mindful others have not been so fortunate.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

11. Thanks.

Yeah, I'm safe where I'm at.
This is much needed rain, the downside is the destruction these storms are causing.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

14. I wish we could spread the rains out in a more gentle fashion.

We need the water. Just not all at once.

[Hortensis]

41. Imagining you all comfy and cozy. My mistake at Castaic heading south

one night in a snowstorm (long ago in my car) was NOT stopping or getting off at any point when I could still see an off ramp, before the lanes disappeared, then the front of my car.

[Auggie]

6. A few months ago the rain outlook was not good ...

because of a forecasted La Niña. But according the N.Y. Times:

The latest heavy storms and flooding remind Jan Null, a meteorologist and former lead forecaster for the National Weather Service, of the winter of 2016-17, which was also a La Niña year.

“Every El Niño is not wet, and every La Niña is not dry,” Null said.

Complex advanced predictive tools are showing that by next summer or fall, El Niño will probably be in place, and this time the pattern could be “a pretty strong one,” Swain said. That could bode well for California and the West’s water outlook.

“All of it is fascinating, and also humbling,” he said. “We’re literally predicting the future.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/09/us/california-la-nina-rain.html

[msfiddlestix]

10. that reference is why a lot of us were surprised. I think it's time to abolish those descriptors

way past time, I hated it when it first came into play back in the 90's if memory serves.

Around the same time that elections introduced "red states and blue states" blah blah blah. I gues that was during Clinton's election.

El Nino, La Nina... useless.

[Auggie]

20. Good point

How much of it is media hype, by the way?

[msfiddlestix]

48. I'd wager close to 99%

I'm not saying the media is creative enough on its own to come up with these inane jingoistic memes. They pay out big money to Media PR Advertisement consultants to dream these up to add a little pzazz to make news and weather reporting more like entertainment.

After all, that's solely what they're all about. They actually drive home the point in their board rooms and management conferences/meetings. Revenue "for their shareholders".

[Sympthsical]

35. I remember reading those articles in SFGate back in November

It might rain a little in November and December, but the rest of the winter would be dry because of La Niña and our doom shall continue.

Welp.

Reminds me of hurricane forecasting. It feels like they're 50/50. There was a season two or three years back that was supposed to be the worst ever, then nothing showed up.

I get it's all kind of a probabilistic crapshoot, but it's entertaining when they get it very, very wrong as they did this year.

Either way, I'd rather have the water.

[Auggie]

37. Exactly

[pnwest]

8. We had an honest-to-God thunderstorm in WA

yesterday, with lightning and everything! We might get one thunderclap twice a year around here, but this was a glorious, hours-long rager. Thought I was back in Indiana for a minute, started looking for a tornado…

[nolabear]

39. I'm in Ocean Shores right now and everyone here posted on FB

“Did you hear that?” 😄

It’s so rare up here that I swear people do t know what to do. I’m fond of thunder snow myself.

[pnwest]

45. I live in Grayland, but I was at work in Aberdeen, saw some people with

very concerned looks on their faces😊 Defo not used to it around here!

[msfiddlestix]

9. Yeppers, just had a massive downpour a half hour ago, with thunder/lightening and gusty winds

Power still on at the moment. This map gives me a little more accurate perspective. good one thank you.

[moonscape]

17. We've been pretty battered here

on the Northern/Central coast. Nowhere for additional water to go, but on the upside breaking the scary drought has been a relief. Our local drinking supply/reserve is now full for the first time in years.

[Unwind Your Mind]

19. Sonoma County

I just looked up rain totals for my city

Almost 10 inches in December, 6 inches already in January

Creeks and rivers are full. It’s not raining right now but it’s supposed to be steady all day.

My young active dog is trashing the place. Mama’s tired 😉

[MarineCombatEngineer]

22. My little Chiweenie is restless, she wants to go outside but the rain

is coming down right now, so, no, she's not getting out of the truck.

[crud]

23. trying to stay dry in Sacramento

We have an adopted feral cat and she doesn't know "litter box". We have a cat bed she never uses. Well, she used it the nite before last to pee in because she couldn't go outside in the storm. Other than that, we've been weathering it well.

[Initech]

27. My brother is a first responder for his county.

He's in charge of routing emergency vehicles and resource allocation. Should be interesting to see what he says.

[Dirty Socialist]

31. Ohio is downwind

I hope it doesn’t turn into another one of those nasty snowstorms by the time it gets here.

[maxsolomon]

32. Sunny day up here at 47 degrees N.

1-3" arrives tomorrow.

[Kennah]

33. I'm building an Ark. God said so.

[Sympthsical]

34. FFS

The wind has been absolutely howling here near Napa since last night. Straight through the valley.

I've been waiting for a break to arrive so I can sneak out for groceries and observe what trees may be down.

[Mr.Bill]

44. I live in Lake County.

I wonder if highway 29 is still passable from Calistoga to Middletown.

[Initech]

36. Mother Nature can be quite the harsh mistress!

[Mr.Bill]

38. I would like to report at this time

we are not on fire.

[intrepidity]

40. Indeed.

It was actually nice for a change to have lightning the other night without worrying whether it was starting a fire.

But the thunder sounded like the hillside was coming down, so it was a wash.

Last week, my concern was mainly about trees falling. This week I have to add to that a fear of mudslides (as I live at the base of a massive hill with no intervening barriers).

And the forecast shows rain *every day* until the 20th. And that's only because they can't forecast beyond that, I imagine.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this week's "Friday the 13th" might be a doozy.

[Mr.Bill]

43. My sister in law just moved out of a house

that had a tree fall the other night. It took out some fence and blocked the driveway, but no other damage. Some friends helped cut it up and haul it away.

One of my dogs is very sensitive to thunder and fireworks, but in recent years she's gone pretty deaf, so she actually slept through the thunder a few nights ago.

[WarGamer]

42. Yikes...

Going to SE Asia in April.

The way the weather has been makes me long for 95 degree temps with 90% humidity lol...

Angkor Wat BTW...

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

46. whoa

[Hekate]

47. On the good side, Lake Cachuma (reservoir for much of Santa Barbara County) was at 40% capacity...

…or less, and is now at 78% capacity and could spill before this is over, which is a Good Thing.

As it happens, I moved to Ventura County several years ago, so I’m a bit unsure where my tap-water is coming from — news photos of the Ventura river today are pretty scary. Our street is okay so far — we did our shopping during one dry day and filled the car with gas — and we are going nowhere unless someone pounds on our door and tells us to get out.

Hubby had the tv on a lot today trying to get some sense of what’s coming, but as it happened the best summary of our weather situation I saw all day was Alex Wagner on MSNBC, 6 pm California time. You are right: more is coming.