Wintery Mix

In the north east, that would mean a mix of rain and snow.  Here in Santa Cruz that is a mix of rain and sun and mild temps.  Kind of feel like that is how this week is going.  We've cleared the humped, and things look to turn fairer.  Yesterday was a great afternoon to stomp in the Pogonip.  We found friends and salamanders.  Along with much wet earth.  The rain was quite sparse in the afternoon, but last night we had several squalls move trough, after dark, dropping an additional .4 inches.  The weekend total for the west side is just about 1.75".  Just over 2 inches in Lompico.  A moderately wet system.  And October is now in the top five wettest Octobers of all time.  A great start to our water year, even as winter forecast start to look on the dryer than average size.

After the rains, we hike the Pogonip through the Ewok Zone, to the Big Leaf Tree, and eat a wild persimmon.  Life.

Today, Monday, will remain cool and cloudy, with the most sun around mid morning.  It does not look like it will rain during the day, although a brief light morning shower is not out of the question.  The final storm in the series should impact us after midnight tonight, with a light fall of rain.  Maybe a tenth or two.  Tuesday could begin wet, but then we get into some series clearing through the day, and should see a full slate of stars at night.  Low to mid 60s both days, but warmer on Tuesday.  And that trend continues with sun and upper 60s Wednesday and low 70s for Thursday and Friday.  There will be a storm impacting the PNW mid week, but it looks like we should be well protected by the building high pressure.  And another system tries to hit us late in the coming weekend.  Too far away to tell, but current model runs have light rain for us Sunday night.

All in all, the first two weeks of November are looking dry.  But the pattern is active, and we see a breach on the models about once per week.  So we are not looking at an inactive, or boring set up, coming these next two weeks.  And if we do get the sunshine, that would be great for home gardens and natural gardens.  Things are green in town.  It is going to be a gorgeous fall.

Rumors have been heard about copious snow in the Tahoe zone last night.  A look at some mountain cams confirm a moderate to decent snow fall.  It looks like 8" to a foot at about 8000 feet.  This will give a good building base for those resorts that wish to make snow.  Not quite enough natural to start the schuss season, but a good building block.  We will have to see how two weeks of sunshine and slight warmth treat it, as we swing into opening days.