How about that weather?

[Crissa]

It's mid-sixties and nearly midnight here in PDX. This rain is sooo warm. And pretty. But it's October and I'm sitting here and not even as cold as I was last night. I'm just cozy on latent house heat, window wide open. So weird.

Another person got killed by a tree hitting their car not far from my home in Santa Cruz. Crazy weather.

-Crissa

 

[ÆCIII]

Wow, you're up late! - or maybe up early -. (Keeping it a little 'light-hearted' here), but be careful revealing too much about the rain! They might attempt to Tax you on "Unrealized Water Collection"

 

[Crissa]

When I was doing temping (and still lived in Portland) one of the jobs I had was giving a survey for storm water.

See, most people don't know, but a large portion of water pollution - now that we have the clean water act - is stormwater. All that rain has to go somewhere, and all that pavement means it can't soak into the ground. So instead of soaking it, it bounces off of driveways and streets and collects all the dust and oil and trash and rushes that into our rivers and kills our fish.

When I was a teen, the fishing industry was still big up here.

But because of subdivisions not building sufficient water retention and stormwater abatement and tires having more preservatives in them, we've destroyed a bunch of the salmon runs.

The weather hasn't been helping. The water has been getting warmer, less predictable.

-Crissa

 

[ÆCIII]

Storm water runoff is also a factor in many other locations around the U.S. and elsewhere, and why some cities/towns/municipalities enforce a code for water runoff mitigation to residences and businesses, regulating the amount of roof, payment, concrete, and basically permanent surfaces covering the soil.

Probably hasn't been discussed much yet, but much of the pollutants in runoff storm water coming from roads, driveways, and parking lots, is likely due to all the ICE car leaked oil and fuel byproducts that layer on the surfaces.

If all the cars had been Teslas over the past twenty years or more, we'd have seen a lot less pollution in that storm runoff water maybe not harming the salmon runs as much. Of course we still have the tires, and products from roof surfaces, but I still think what leaks or seeps from cars, is a large part of it, even exhaust product vapors that might condense on the road as well.

-ÆCII

 

[Ogre]

We went white water rafter in Bend a few weeks ago and river levels were super low. It’s a huge problem because when water levels are low, the water warms up and it wrecks havoc on fish populations and breeding.

We’re seeing plenty of warm rain down here in EUG right now. Kind of nice, but we need that snow on the mountains.

 

[ÆCIII]

We went white water rafter in Bend a few weeks ago and river levels were super low. It’s a huge problem because when water levels are low, the water warms up and it wrecks havoc on fish populations and breeding.

We’re seeing plenty of warm rain down here in EUG right now. Kind of nice, but we need that snow on the mountains.

I visited Lake Meade and the Hoover Damn in 2015 and a few times earlier, taking several high resolution photos. The water level was already low then, but when comparing recent images to those pictures I took only a few years earlier, it's still getting even lower.

 

[Ogre]

I visited Lake Meade and the Hoover Damn in 2015 and a few times earlier, taking several high resolution photos. The water level was already low then, but when comparing recent images to those pictures I took only a few years earlier, it's still getting even lower.

What’s happening at Lake Mead is insane.

I lived in NorCal just 40 minutes away from New Melones Reservoir for decades and watched the shoreline recede over the years. Some of the trails would be under water in the spring when we first started riding there. Now the water never gets within a half a mile of the trails. I don’t think it’s been over 35% of capacity for 10 years.

You can see the high water marks on the bridge. The Russian mob used to dump bodies off this bridge because the water was deep enough they weren’t worried about them getting discovered.

At Lake Oroville—which was threatening to rupture just a few years ago—had to shut down power production due to low levels.

I read that Lake Mead might be forced to shut down power production within the next few years as well.

 

[TruckElectric]

At Lake Oroville—which was threatening to rupture just a few years ago—had to shut down power production due to low levels.

Lake Oroville rose 22 feet from recent rains(Bomb Cyclone) and is expected to rise more and may be bringing power production back online soon.

 

[TruckElectric]

Lake Oroville rose 22 feet from recent rains

28 feet now.

"Lake Oroville, the state's second-largest reservoir, has already made significant gains after the storm. The lake level rose 28 feet and gained roughly 166,000 acre-feet of water after the storm, the Department of Water Resources data showed." https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/what-are-California-reservoir-levels-drought-16571485.php

 

[TheLastStarfighter]

Global warming has been amazing for Nova Scotia. When I was a kid, it would often snow on Halloween. Now, October is one of the nicest months. It's like we have an extra month of summer. Of course, our beaches may be gone soon and we'll be an island, but.. easy come easy go.

 

[Crissa]

Twenty-eight feet is still a drop compared to the 260 feet is has to go. And the water spreads out so all those feet are bigger.

The rain is nice, but we need lots more.

-Crissa

 

[Sirfun]

Twenty-eight feet is still a drop compared to the 260 feet is has to go. And the water spreads out so all those feet are bigger.

The rain is nice, but we need lots more.

-Crissa

Yes spread out the rain over the seasons. A big deluge is never the answer to a drought.

 

[Ogre]

Yes spread out the rain over the seasons. A big deluge is never the answer to a drought.

Was reading the other day that prior to the “Bomb Cyclone”, Sacramento hadn’t had measurable rain in 222 days. That’s more desert than drought.

I think Crissa was referring to the fact that every foot higher a reservoir gets requires more water to fill than the foot before it. Going from 100 feet full to 128 feet is a lot less water than going from 128 feet to 156 feet.

 

[Crissa]

Yes spread out the rain over the seasons. A big deluge is never the answer to a drought.

But that's how our climate works. We gotta get it when we can get it. We don't get it in the summer - and we don't want thunder during the fire season.

-Crissa

 

[Sirfun]

But that's how our climate works. We gotta get it when we can get it. We don't get it in the summer - and we don't want thunder during the fire season.

-Crissa

It's very much how our climate works. We must play the cards we're dealt. Southern California especially, is known for little to no rain from June through August.
My point is that we need way more than one storm system like last weeks. We are way behind from the last couple of drought years. This year being a La Nina year doesn't bode well. But, at least we watered down some of our fire fears with the rain we got last week.