Wednesday, February 15, 2012

not much rain in the forecast

First off, I want to discuss a weird weather event last evening. I was awakened around 11:30 last night to a heavy downpour of rain and hail. Lightning and thunder accompanied this, and the power at my house was out for about three hours. Mind you, I live in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Chico; Chico did not experience any of this thunderstorm activity. What struck me was the very rapid movement of this seemingly isolated storm. All of this occurred in about a three to five minute timeframe. The storm left my location as quickly as it came. I assumed the storm was riding down the spine of the foothills in a northwest to southeast direction. It was strange. Anyway, as I said, Chico received no rain from this storm, and it looks as though there is no significant rain on the horizon. There will be slight chances of rain this weekend, but these storms will be weak and fast-moving. Gusty northwest winds that plagued Chico today (gusting up to 25-30 mph) will diminish this evening. High temps the next couple of days will be right around average- mainly in the mid 60s. Temps cool a bit over the weekend and into early next week as a weak trough digs in over northern California. However, a big, strong ridge of high pressure builds in mid-week next week, and high temps may exceed 70 degrees by next Wednesday and Thursday! Here is the detailed forecast for Chico from the National Weather Service:

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 34. North northwest wind between 5 and 13 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 63. North northwest wind between 7 and 10 mph.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 39. North northeast wind around 6 mph.

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 62. Northeast wind at 5 mph becoming south.

Friday Night: A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly after 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44. Light southeast wind.

Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 55.

Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35.

Sunday: A slight chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 54.

Sunday Night: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37.

Washington's Birthday: A slight chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 57.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 41.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 63.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 42.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70.

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