Just a Hair Above Pi

3.16 inches of rain for Santa Cruz since the break in the dry weather.  Scotts Valley received 4.93 inches.  Interestingly enough, that squall we had the other morning that dropped nearly and inch in just over an hour, did not produce as much in Scotts Valley, but it otherwise rained much heavier there during these storms.  These storms did much better than forecast when it came to rainfall amounts.  While the ground has had a few weeks to dry out, it is still saturated and it dod not take long for water to be running in the streams and roads.  Still, there has not been any signs of significant flooding, as our water ways had a chance to clear.  We have a gorgeous day about to unfold, with sunshine, mild temps, light winds and a fun little swell in the water.  Thursday looks very nice.  The next storm upstream will not begin to affect us until sometime on Friday.

Kirkwood Valley, April 17, 2016.  There is about 15 more feet of snow on the ground right now.  

There seems to be some more agreement this morning that clouds will move in overnight.  The rain should hold off during the morning hours on Friday, but when this storm does hit, it will be fast and furious.  The bulk of this system is just to our north, where they will get hit hard on Friday afternoon. Here we can expect some strong winds in the morning, maybe going slack in the afternoon, with up to an inch of rain in town, with more in the mountains.  Rain continues overnight, but clears out quickly on Saturday morning.  Totals in town could exceed 1.5 inches.  So this is a quick, big hit.  Followed by a nice weekend.  Sun comes out, and we warm a bit

Rain looks like it will return on Sunday evening and last into Monday morning.  This storm is now looking to be a bit mellower, but as we have seen this week so far, spring time is hard to forecast.  Up until yesterday afternoon it looked like we would clear out for the week after Monday, but we now may be expecting some weak waves moving through.  Something to watch.