Flight(s) to Las Vegas, NV - October 28, 2021

Northwest corner of Madera, CA.

Near Lemoore, CA.

The World-Famous San Andreas Fault!

On the tarmac at Burbank, CA.

Toluca Lake neighborhood, Burbank Towers, and Ventura Freeway, with Johnny Carson Park in the distance.

La La Land - Santa Monica, and all that.

Reseda, CA, in the San Fernando Valley.

Buh-bye Hollywood-Burbank (aka Bob Hope) Airport.

Mission Hills, CA.

Bouquet Reservoir.

Rosamond, CA, and the Rosamond Dry Lake Bed.

Edwards AFB.

Rail yards at Barstow, CA.

Coyote Dry Lake Bed.

North of Baker, CA.

Desert Oasis High School.

Highway 215 and Highway 15 interchange.

McCarran International Airport, and the Las Vegas Strip.

Checking in with the Virus

Time to check in on everyone's favorite virus. Rates of new infection are declining over big swathes of the world, including the U.S. (The South is finally doing better; Alaska and the northern tier of states, like North Dakota, are the problem places now.) 

Rates are still sporadically high on certain Caribbean islands, like Barbados. The troubles that were apparent last month in eastern Europe are continuing, and spreading across northern Europe as winter creeps closer and people retreat indoors. Covid rates in the UK remain stubbornly high.

Really Incredible Rainfall Record!

It looks like the heavy rainfall on Sunday kicked the level of Folsom Lake (near Sacramento) up 17 feet so far, setting it back to where it was at the end of June. Still, the lake level is pretty low. The heavy rain fell on bone-dry ground, so much of the water was soaked up like a sponge. 

(I flew in from Seattle Sunday evening, and I was hoping we wouldn't skid off the runway! It was surprising how little flooding there was, considering the amount of rain. That dry, dry ground eagerly sucked up the water.)

We set impressive rainfall records on Sunday, at least by local standards. With 5.44 inches of rain in 24 hours at the Downtown Sacramento station, we beat the previous record of 5.28 inches on April 20, 1880. Blue Canyon got over 10 inches of rain! 

RECORD EVENT REPORT 

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO 425 AM PDT MON OCT 25 2021 

...ALL TIME DAILY RECORD SETTING RAIN AT SEVERAL NORCAL LOCATIONS ON SUNDAY... 

...SACRAMENTO CITY

... A RECORD RAINFALL OF 5.44 INCHES WAS SET AT SACRAMENTO CITY YESTERDAY. THIS BREAKS THE ALL TIME ONE DAY RECORD RAINFALL OF 5.28 INCHES FROM APRIL 20, 1880. THE PREVIOUS DAILY RECORD FOR OCT 24 WAS 1.21 INCHES SET IN 2010. 

...SACRAMENTO EXECUTIVE AIRPORT... A RECORD RAINFALL OF 5.41 INCHES WAS SET AT SACRAMENTO EXEC AIRPORT YESTERDAY. THIS BREAKS THE ALL TIME ONE DAY RECORD RAINFALL OF 3.77 INCHES FROM OCTOBER 13, 1962. THE PREVIOUS DAILY RECORD FOR OCT 24 WAS 1.08 INCHES SET IN 2010. 

...BLUE CANYON

... A RECORD RAINFALL OF 10.40 INCHES WAS SET AT BLUE CANYON YESTERDAY. THIS BREAKS THE ALL TIME ONE DAY RECORD RAINFALL OF 9.33 INCHES FROM DECEMBER 22, 1964. THE PREVIOUS DAILY RECORD FOR OCT 24 WAS 6.34 INCHES SET IN 2010. 

...DAILY RAINFALL RECORDS SET AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 24... 

...REDDING AIRPORT

... A RECORD RAINFALL OF 2.99 INCHES FELL AT THE REDDING AIRPORT YESTERDAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 2.29 INCHES SET IN 2010. 

...OROVILLE AIRPORT

... A RECORD RAINFALL OF 4.57 INCHES FELL AT THE OROVILLE AIRPORT YESTERDAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 1.42 SET IN 2010. 

...SACRAMENTO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

... A RECORD RAINFALL OF 4.13 INCHES FELL AT THE SACRAMENTO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT YESTERDAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 0.90 INCHES SET IN 1998.

Walt asks: Is this La Nina?  My response: 

I tend to be skeptical about La Nina, since we're so far from the Equator. La Nina has a huge impact along the Equator, but that impact tails off with distance. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation is closer, and it tends to work together with La Nina. Still, the PDO is negative, which tends to mean a drier California, so who knows? I noticed last month that a big Rossby wave was parked off the west coast, which is very favorable for California rain. In the Northern Hemisphere, there are typically five to seven big Rossby waves parked around the globe at any one time. I want the one west of California to stay there through the winter. The most recent storm in California was an Atmospheric River, a recent coinage. Marty Ralph has made a career in NOAA based on Atmospheric Rivers. (I was Marty's junior-level lab instructor when I was a grad student and he was an undergrad at the University of Arizona. It's interesting following his career.)

Pike St. Marketplace, and Heading to Airport

I wasn't able to stay long at the Pike St. Marketplace. I needed to take my sister Marra to the airport. She tried instead to have me take her to a train station and ride from there, but that didn't work, so I took her straight to the airport. It was too early for my flight, so I dawdled near a shopping mall. I ate lunch at Red Robin and shopped for cameras at Best Buy before daring the rain storm and heading to the airport..

Approaching Seattle

The ferry MV Chimacum leaves port and heads east.

Farewell to Bremerton.

Seattle appears in the distance through the rain.

Cousins Donna and Bruce Buzzell.

Sue Mills and her father, my cousin John Buzzell.

My sister Marra and I head back to the rent-a-car as we near Seattle.