Rain is Coming.

Feeling confident that we will see rain next week.  How much and when are still in question, but otherwise it is looking sure that precipitation will fall.  And we need it.  This is very good news for the Camp Fire.  They are forecasting over 1.5" in that area.  Ventura will see less; it will get somewhere between a half and one inch of rain.  But let's first focus on Santa Cruz.  The next few days remain fair, with pretty high AQI numbers due to the smoke from Bonny Doon and Camp fires.  There was also a second blaze in the Pogonip yesterday.  The zone is dry folks. Be careful when using flames.  Anyway, mid 60s, haze and smoke.  Lows just about 40F. Westside has been cold in the mornings, with plenty of places reading below 40F.  Van Ness and King hit a low of 36.5F, with Swift and Delaware reporting 38.3F.  It was below freezing for almost five hours in Tie Gulch.  Over on Western, it was about 44F, so location matters.  AQI today was above 150 most of the day.  It was 162 at 3PM.  Unhealthy.  Stay inside if you can.

Weather remains the same, with maybe less haze and smoke moving forward.  Sun will feel warm if it is out.  That smoke cuts off a lot of radiation.  Tuesday we begin to see a change.  It will be the calm before the storms.  Winds will build out of the south late, and clouds will begin to filter in.  Could be an epic sunset Tuesday.  Cloud cover and SW flow keep things a little warmer Tuesday night.  Rain move in over night.  Caveat, this is all still several days away and models keep shifting.  We will see moderate rain on Wednesday, starting at the coast and moving east and south during the day.  It will settle overnight, and clear out briefly for Thursday morning.  A second round of rain fills in during the mid day of Thanksgiving. Could be a wet one folk.  Be prepared for some stormy conditions.  As it sits now it could last into Friday, with another system impacting us Saturday night.  All told, we are looking at 1.5 to two inches in town, with more in the hills.  Not huge by any standard, but a hell of a lot more than we have had in months.

Anyway, that is a quick overview.  And likely to change.  But rain is coming and you should be getting prepared.  Walk your property and look for those things that have been out for months, fading into the background, but should really not get wet.  Bring them inside.  That includes wood handled shovels.  Or cardboard anything.  Seed packets.  Whatever.  And look for things that will collect and allow for standing water. Mosquitos are no fun.  More to come.