Articles by author: Jack Martin

2/16/24

By Jack Martin on Feb 16, 2024 at 09:02 PM

Good Friday morning,

Are you ready? Here we go again, but not today or even Saturday daytime.

This is a very interesting article that was shared to me by Steven (Thanks Steven)

This is pretty interesting for two reasons

1. it’s been enough that we are in El Niño but a super El Niño !!!!

2. In the same paragraph, they talk about us getting into La Niña by the end of summer.

https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/super-el-nino-arrives-rapid-collapse-la-nina-watch

Rare ‘Super’ El Nino arrives but rapid collapse beginning as La Nina Watch issued

A strong El Niño winter season has become a rare "super" El Niño season. But it's quickly losing steam as the ocean undergoes a rapid reversal, likely heading to an opposite La Niña pattern by summer.

As far as our weather goes, we are just a little more than half way through a historical February for rainfall and more is on the way.

Today and Saturday we’re looking at dry weather with some clouds, highs in the 60s to 70° in warmest valleys

Saturday it looks like the next storm system approaches but will only clip SLO.

Saturday night into Sunday rain returns for all. This will start out minimal with 1/4 to 1/2 inch 1 inch on southwest faces.

Sunday some on and off rain, but not anything crazy.

Sunday night into Monday morning it is game on and really all the way though Monday.

Tuesday more rain into the evening.

Wednesday the encore performance like last week. The core of the low will pass and bring heavy rain at times, possible thunder and more. 1 inch per hour rains at times.

All in all, 2 to 4 inches coastal, and 4 to 6 in the foothills and up to 8 more in the mountains and south facing.

Yes it will be another soaker in February. 13 days left, I can’t wait for March….

Ok back to Action, 5 hours of sleep, here we go again

Jack Martin

2/16/24

By Jack Martin on Feb 16, 2024 at 06:00 PM

Good Friday morning, 

Are you ready, here we go again, but not today or even on Saturday daytime.

This is a very interesting article that was shared with me by Steven (Thanks Steven )

This is pretty interesting for two reasons:

It’s been enough that we are in El Niño but a super El Niño!!!! 
In the same paragraph talk about us getting into La Niña by the end of summer

https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/super-el-nino-arrives-rapid-collapse-la-nina-watch

Rare ‘Super’ El Nino arrives but rapid collapse beginning as La Nina Watch issued

A strong El Niño winter season has become a rare "super" El Niño season. But it's quickly losing steam as the ocean undergoes a rapid reversal, likely heading to an opposite La Niña pattern by summer.

www.foxweather.com

As far as our weather goes we are just a little more than halfway through a historical February for rainfall and more is on the way.

Today and Saturday we’re looking at dry weather with some clouds and highs in the 60s to 70° in the warmest valleys.

Saturday and looks like the next storm system approaches but that only clips SLO.

Saturday night into Sunday rain returns for all. This will start out minimal with 1/4 to 1/2 inch 1 inch on southwest faces.

Sunday some on-and-off rain, but not anything crazy.

Sunday night into Monday morning it is game on and really all the way through Monday.

Tuesday more rain into the evening.

Wednesday the encore performance like last week. The core of the low will pass and bring heavy rain at times, possible thunder and more. 1 inch per hour rains at times.

All in all 2 to 4 inches coastal and, 4 to 6 in the foothills, and up to 8 more in the mountains and south facing. 

Yes, there will be another soaker in February. 13 days left, and I can’t wait for March …. 

Ok back to Action 5 hours of sleep, here we go again.

Jack Martin

2/14/24

By jack martin on Feb 14, 2024 at 11:43 PM

Good Wednesday morning and happy Valentine’s Day.

A low pressure system is approaching and some are waking up to fog.

Today after the fog clears, an overall nice day, but tonight we will see a 30% chance of rain coming through.

Thursday we will likely see a marine layer, drizzle and some light rain possible, so prepare as needed.

Thursday night into Friday after the weak system rolls through, we have a great day with some highs close to 70 degrees.

Saturday will be transition day before rain starts Saturday night. Beyond Saturday night and Sunday morning, the models are not really clear on exactly when the real rain event will start, but will arrive Sunday night into Monday or later.

Monday is still in question. I’m sure that everything will come together as we get closer as far as Rain goes, we are still on track to see 2 to 5 inches coastal and 5 to 8 inches in foothills and mountains.

Like the last system it will be very windy with winds 40 to 50 miles an hour. Also this system will bring lower snow levels. They will be more like 4500 feet. Needless say we will get into another very wet and windy pattern likely through Tuesday and possibly into Wednesday of next week.

Get prepared, this will cause flooding in areas due to the saturated soils and the heavier rains.

Here is a little geography lesson. I did not know the surrounding countries to costa Rica. Today is my last full day, before a travel day Thursday. See you back home late Thursday. Have a great Valentine’s Day, guys don’t forget or you will be in the dog house.

Jack Martin

2/13/24

By jack martin on Feb 13, 2024 at 06:57 PM

Good Tuesday morning,

Dry weather will continue through the weekend with a few slight twists.

Today will be sunny for the most part, with some locations waking up to fog.

After the fog clears mostly sunny with a high of 60.

Tonight fog and some drizzle possible for all as a weak system passes to the north
https://zoom.earth/maps/satellite/#view=38.82,-126.99,5z

The rest of the work week basically brings us dry conditions with some fog again Wednesday overnight into Thursday.

A weak ridge builds in Thursday and hangs in place through Friday.

Friday night into Saturday a low pressure system pushes into the area and will bring back rain and a wet few systems.

It appears Saturday will be mostly dry, then the first system comes in Saturday night into Sunday. The first system will not bring that much rain, but Sunday night into Monday is when the heavy rain returns into Tuesday.

It does look like the crazy rain total for February will keep adding up with total Sunday till Wednesday of 2 to 4 or more inches coastal and 4 to 8 inches in the mountains.

February has really performed to El Niño 2024 with just crazy rain totals and we are not done yet. With the ground saturated from all the rains earlier in the month, it will not take much to get creeks and stream humming again, some flooding is likely.

Enjoy the rest of the work week which will be dry, with only some fog and drizzle possible over night Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

I return Thursday afternoon, just in time to get ready for the next round of rains. Oh Joy for me !!!

Have a good week, don’t forget Valentine day is Wednesday.

Jack Martin

2/8/24

By jack martin on Feb 08, 2024 at 07:32 PM

Good Thursday morning,

Well, last night was just like an encore to a performance.

Whether it’s good or bad news, the rains are over for right now.

It looks like we will have dry weather through at least next Wednesday.

Today the wind is going to blow quite hard as it’s doing so right now at 2:53 AM.

Chilly out there this morning with the snow levels to our local mountain heights last night. We received anywhere from half an inch to 1 1/2 inches of additional rainfall in a very short period of time last night. It actually came down harder than I’ve seen during any of the other storms this year, but it didn’t last for a long period of time.

It looks like we’re in for dry weather and cool temperatures, highs might be in the 50s and then by the Weekend, into the 60s. The good news is that the rains are over and we have had record rains the past 10 days where we are well above normal by almost double. We have more rainfall for the year to date than we typically get for the entire year and our weather season goes from October 1, 2023 to October 1, 2024. As you can see we still have eight months left in our season. Needless to say this year will exceed normal rainfalls totals by far.

I’m sure we’re all ready for a break. We will have to see what the future brings, but looks like the next chance of rain will be late next week.

Enjoy El Niño. What do you like it or not?

Jack Martin

2/7/24

By jack martin on Feb 07, 2024 at 08:15 PM

Good Wednesday morning,

It is Wednesday right?? I have lost track of the days because I have worked every day for the last 12.

The rain has been just nuts for the past 10 days and it is not over yet. check this out.

This is done really well and shows how LA area really got hammered but came out of the rains with minimal problems. (you need a spare 10 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efbLZC55rQE

Take a look at the rain percentages for the year, season to date and the lake levels.

Santa Barbara is now 101% for the entire year of rainfall. 183% year to date.

Lakes are full … and they are opening the dams

https://files.countyofsb.org/pwd/hydrology/Rainfall%20Reports/rainfallreport.pdf

What’s happening today? When will the rain be back?

Today, like most of this week so far, it will be mostly dry with just a few showers possible during the day.

It is chilly out there with snow levels at 4000 feet and some snow on the grape vine today.

Tonight another system will bring us more rain. Rain will start up late in the afternoon in SLO then come through our area overnight. Rain totals of another ½ inch

This will move fast and will be mostly over by Thursday sunrise, some showers are possible into Friday morning.

Here it is approaching the bay area now https://zoom.earth/

The weekend and into next week we will get a break, through Tuesday at this point. Models show another system later in the week next.

El Nino continues and this has been a special February, so far with crazy rain totals.

One interesting news story I heard today while typing this report... This weekend is the 60th anniversary of the Beatles first shows on Ed Sullivan in 1964, 60 years ago.

71 million people tuned in to watch them play that night.

If you don’t know Ed Sullivan, he had the best variety show in the 60s and 70s. Everyone tuned in back in the day to watch him on Sunday nights.

I remember watching this all the time when I was a kid. Not that I wanted to at the time. I had no choice because all the adults watch the black and white 25-inch console TV Sunday nights.

It was Lawrence Welk then Ed Sullivan as I remember it .. (25-inch TV was huge at that time)

Am I dating myself? 😊 oh well …. That’s fine …

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&ei=UTF-8&p=ed+sullivan+show+beatles+first+appearance&type=E211US739G0#id=1&vid=b339b8832b46867dfb18d9723c56e5bf&action=click

Have a great day as always, hope I brighten your day a little, with my humor.

Jack Martin

2/6/24

By jack martin on Feb 06, 2024 at 06:22 PM

Good Tuesday morning,

The crazy rain totals just keep climbing as we are now entering into day 8 since the rains began. It is not like the 40 days and 40 nights when Noah’s arch was stated, but it is beginning to feel like it.

Santa Barbara areas in the last 12 hours has received over another inch of additional rain 24 hours almost 2 inches. San Marcos pass 2.45in. Just crazy rain total for this storm, and it is not over yet. https://www.weather.gov/lox/LAXRRMSBA

Los angles and San Diego have been getting hammered over the last 24 hours with 10 inches and 15 inches in 48 hours in some locations. https://www.weather.gov/lox/LAXRRMLOS

The only good news is the heavy steady rain is now moving out and it will just turn to showers.
https://zoom.earth/maps/satellite/#view=22.9,-109,4z

Today rain continues, but on the lighter side with just showers.

Showers will slow as the day goes on, but Wednesday more light rain as 1 more system brings around 1/4 inch of light rain, posing no real threat but more light rain. In fact there is a slight chance for showers into Friday.

The weekend looks to finally put the rain behind us with dry weather and 60s Saturday and Sunday. Then most likely into Monday also.

Current radar still shows rain in the LA area https://radar.weather.gov/station/KVTX/standard

This has been just nuts with all the rain in the past 8 days.
El Niño lives in California. When it rains it pours here.

Hang in there, we are on the back side now. I would say see you in the trenches, but they are filled with water right now.

Stay dry.

Jack Martin

2/4/24

By Jack Martin on Feb 06, 2024 at 06:19 PM

Good Monday morning,

What a crazy Sunday, just wild weather after a slower start to the storm. As everyone is aware it was wild around 1pm and the winds and rains were just nuts.

Trees were dropping from the winds all over town, and the flooding was just nuts. I have lots of videos I made in my adventures. I am glad I drive a 4-wheel drive truck.

I was out in the craziness doing what we could to protect homes from water leaking in. I compare days like Sunday to, you turned your home on its side and the rain would flow into it. The wind gusts were 60 miles an hour from the southeast and rain rates were ½ to 1 inch per hour. The freeways did as good as they could. The airport did close from the craziness and flooded runways.

All in all we held up pretty good at creeks and rivers, it was crazy, and water piled up in the flood areas downtown. All the water made small lakes around Salsupudas.

(do you know what that means in Spanish “get out if you can “) it was indeed crazy down there, the area around my office was filed with water for the entire block of Cota and Salsupudas. At least my office was 6 inches above the water line. https://zoom.earth/maps/satellite/#view=42.5,-99.9,4z/date=2024-02-05,03:40,-8

Today all the rain has shifted into LA area with lots of rain falling there. For us we will see a mostly dry day with just a few showers possible, and with rain returning tonight as the front passes through.

We have received incredible amounts of rain in a short period of time. Most of us saw 4 inches in a 12-hour period and San Marcos pass over 5 inches. storm totals for the past week are just crazy numbers, with well over 10 inches to 15 inches so far. https://www.weather.gov/lox/LAXRRMSBA

As mentioned earlier today mostly dry with all the rain in the LA south areas where they will see a few inches of rain https://radar.weather.gov/station/KVTX/standard

Rain will return tonight for us as the front and unstable air passes through. Snow levels will drop to 6000 feet then to 5000 feet Tuesday.

Rain ends Tuesday and we begin the dry out period. The extended forecast is still not real clear, with a chance of rain later in the week, but it should be on the lighter side.

More on that to come on Tuesday’s forecast.

As we all know the ground is saturated and all the lakes are now going to be full. I am good with rain now, please bring on summer ☹

Ok off to the office and mop up the fun from yesterday.

Jack Martin

2/3/24

By Jack Martin on Feb 06, 2024 at 06:12 PM

Good Saturday morning,

Ok here we go. You know it is going to be interesting when the schools have already Announced they will be closed on Monday. This reminds me of when I lived in Phila as a kid and we would hover by the radio in the morning and listen to see if the snow closed the schools for the day. It is funny to hear the same thing all these years later in California for Rain 🤔😂 before it even happens

As everyone is aware my now, we are going to see 2 more, back to back low pressure systems affect us though Tuesday of next week. These 2 events on top of the rains that we have had this week which has saturated the soils. Heavy run off is expected.

Now let’s try to spell out the forecast.

We have really 2 low pressure systems that will create rain late today, one which is a warmer front coming more westerly today, then Monday and Tuesday coming from the north.

Both of these will bring us heavy rain with a very large accumulation.

Here is how it looks from the sky right now https://zoom.earth/maps/satellite/#view=34,-113.2,4z

Today will be mostly dry, then rain chances start up after 4pm. The heaviest rain will be Sunday into Tuesday

Tonight rain will fall heavy after midnight all the way through Sunday night with subtropical moisture feeding it.

On Monday, system 2. a colder one drops down and stalls over us pumping in subtropical moisture bring us more heavy rain through Tuesday.

You can see this from the graphic below when the heaviest rain will fall.

How much rain will fall and how it will affect us? Let’s talk about the rain …

3 to 6 inches coastal through Monday 6 to 12 inches in the mountains.

South facing mountains (us) much more. It is possible we could see 8 inches along the coast and foothills and 15 inches on south facing mountains.

It will be quite windy, winds last night blew hard from the north west, today later this afternoon they will shift to the southeast setting up our Pineapple Express, or atmospheric river or what ever you want to call it. winds tonight in the mountains will be 60 mils and hour from the southeast.

Rain heavy overnight and all the way through Sunday, with plenty of wind

Snow levels drop on Monday and lots of snow will fall in resort areas.

Rains will end Tuesday night, with another weaker storm possible late next week.

Regarding flooding and Evacuations.

The only area with evacuations in process is the burn areas near Gaviota.

Here nothing at this point, but I was at Westmont College yesterday and the creeks were running hard with no rain. You can only imagine what a few days of heavy rain will do to creeks, streams and rivers. It will get interesting.

They are comparing this event to Jan 9th 2023. That was wild because I was in the heart of montecito trying to cover roofs. Creeks were roaring. Hotsprings and Olivemill rd the water was running over its banks onto Olivemill rd.

All creeks will be tested to their maximum. If i lived next to a creek Saturday and Sunday night in Montecito especially I would be staying elsewhere.

The hills are more stable since the shrubs and grasses have grown back. Montecito will learn why you have boulders in your yards. Just look at the mountains above, you can see them quite well, some will come down.

My best advice, stay tuned. I will up date as I can.

There will be likely power outages.

I am glad to say I have solar and back up batteries to power my homes when the electricity goes out. Enjoy the ride, that’s it for now more to follow.

Jack Martin

2/2/24

By jack martin on Feb 02, 2024 at 06:00 PM

Good Friday morning,

Where do I start today?

The first of 2 strong storm systems has passed through leaving us with impressive rain totals for a 24 hour period. Summarizing quickly, everyone saw 3 inches of rain. San Marcos pass 6.32 inches. The Santa Barbara area got hit the hardest.
Here are the local numbers.
https://www.weather.gov/lox/LAXRRMSBA

Today, we will see some north winds and a few passing showers. Really nothing to be cautious of, maybe a few mountain showers.

Looking ahead the big news is all about the next storm system. The grounds are saturated and the second system is right on the heels of yesterday’s system.

If you look closely at the forecast you will see that the timing of the rains start time has moved up by 12 to 24 hours. It does appear we will be mostly dry today and daylight hours on Saturday, but rain will move in Saturday night into the early morning of Sunday. This second system is looking very powerful and long lasting. Some models show showers into Wednesday or Thursday morning. The main event starts Sunday morning and lasts into Tuesday. There is a lot of subtropical moisture and a low pressure system that is predicted to stall over us and pump in the moisture for up to 2 days. With the saturated ground and rain rates of a steady 1/2 inch or more per hour it is going to make flooding in low-living areas likely.

Updated rain totals have not come out today, but as of yesterday they were talking about 3 to 6 inches coastal and foothills. 6 to 12 inches in the mountains and a 30% to 50% chance that coastal areas of south facing hills (us) could see 8 inches of rain and mountains 15 inches. These number were from yesterday and I will wait for the updated numbers, but this system is looking to be the Holy grail of storms for the year.

There will be significant flooding along some creeks and rivers. At this point there is a 25% chance that the Ventura and Santa Ynez rivers will reach flood stages. A Significant rise in level will occur and don’t be stupid to try white water rafting. You laugh, but some folks will.

Regarding Montecito and the heavy rains. I have received a number of calls at this point. It is still too early to know how much impact there will be, but small stream flooding is likely and everyone should keep an eye on the forecast Sunday though Monday.

This is when the heaviest rain will fall. I will update on a regular basis Sunday and Monday.

Get prepared because you have 2 daylight days before a lot of rain falls, especially if you live in low lying areas.

More to come, we will be making the national news

Jack Martin