40 replies to this topic

[hyiger]

Followed by another atmospheric river and 4 days of rain with flooding on Monday in the cards. Since late November I've gotten in exactly 6 hrs of imaging. I picked up a solar rig but haven't been able to use that either. This is really depressing, winter has been a bust. 

Edited by hyiger, 18 February 2024 - 11:11 AM.

[auroraTDunn]

My daughter was complaining about this yesterday because she could not get out to go out to Point Pinole (she lives just a few minutes from there) or up to Muir. And today will be another inside day at Lindsay for her I'm betting, Heck looks like most of the week for you folks. But hey PLEASE just send more of that to us (at least during blinding moons periods). Maybe solar scope time on Thursday? Albeit I bet really crappy seeing!

 

I on the other hand was wise and cleaned off the deck yesterday (we got a few inches of snow on Friday - again) and had a clear night, ruined by the moon but Ha's look OK(ish) betting many will be dropped in WBPP when I preprocess (subframe cleaning) and bump up the LN-Maximum integrated frames.

Stupid moon ruining the only clear nights I get the past few months!

[hyiger]

My daughter was complaining about this yesterday because she could not get out to go out to Point Pinole (she lives just a few minutes from there) or up to Muir. And today will be another inside day at Lindsay for her I'm betting, Heck looks like most of the week for you folks. But hey PLEASE just send more of that to us (at least during blinding moons periods). Maybe solar scope time on Thursday? Albeit I bet really crappy seeing!

 

I on the other hand was wise and cleaned off the deck yesterday (we got a few inches of snow on Friday - again) and had a clear night, ruined by the moon but Ha's look OK(ish) betting many will be dropped in WBPP when I preprocess (subframe cleaning) and bump up the LN-Maximum integrated frames.

Stupid moon ruining the only clear nights I get the past few months!

Had only 3 clear nights in December that straddled the full Moon (of course). Never really had much interest in Lunar AP but may have to give it a shot (pun intended) to hedge myself. 

 

It's actually clear now but that will change dramatically in a few hours. 

Edited by hyiger, 18 February 2024 - 11:51 AM.

[desert_sage]

Growing up in nearby Martinez about 50yo I recall the skies being clear and blue ... or solid gray marine layer, for weeks on end. Ugh. Frustrating for a teen with a 4" reflector and just two eyepieces.

 

That said, even down in the California high desert this has been a bad winter, even for a visual guy with binoculars and a gng scope.

[hyiger]

Growing up in nearby Martinez about 50yo I recall the skies being clear and blue ... or solid gray marine layer, for weeks on end. Ugh. Frustrating for a teen with a 4" reflector and just two eyepieces.

 

That said, even down in the California high desert this has been a bad winter, even for a visual guy with binoculars and a gng scope.

When I moved here 10 years ago, the skies would be clear for months on end. Of course we also had severe drought. Now it's opposite. Never had a winter like this where every night for months there is cloud cover. 

[Forward Scatter]

In my 56 years of living in Cali before moving northward, we never had the recurring massive wildfires, massive atmospheric rivers, record hot summers and bomb cyclones until about 2012 or so. Then it seems the floodgates were opened. 

[hyiger]

In my 56 years of living in Cali before moving northward, we never had the recurring massive wildfires, massive atmospheric rivers, record hot summers and bomb cyclones until about 2012 or so. Then it seems the floodgates were opened. 

Yup. I have an explanation as to the "why" but then such discussions seem to be forbidden here... 

Edited by hyiger, 18 February 2024 - 03:05 PM.

[kgb]

Sit tight. El Nino is expected to give way to la Nina as early as this spring. Droughts will follow.

[hyiger]

Sit tight. El Nino is expected to give way to la Nina as early as this spring. Droughts will follow.

Followed by locusts and frogs dropping from the sky. 

[kgb]

That's better than having the San Andreas fault rupturing and dumping California into the ocean isn't it? Besides, the frogs will eat the locusts which will plump them up and frog legs are delicious. You have to consider the brighter side of our impending, collective tragedy.

[Mike in Rancho]

That's better than having the San Andreas fault rupturing and dumping California into the ocean isn't it?

Who's to say we don't stay put while the rest of you all fall into the Atlantic? 

 

 

 

Followed by another atmospheric river and 4 days of rain with flooding on Monday in the cards. Since late November I've gotten in exactly 6 hrs of imaging. I picked up a solar rig but haven't been able to use that either. This is really depressing, winter has been a bust. 

It's been an interesting couple of seasons down here.  A dozen or more AR's with 40+ inches of rain, tornadoes, blizzard warning, snow at 1500 feet, and oh yeah a tropical storm. 

 

I think this next AR is more for NoCal and perhaps central coast, so we'll see if the tail gets down here in a few days.  But regardless it's been frequently cloudy even when not raining.  Now it's still SoCal so there have been clear nights, but seemingly always during the full moon, or busy weeknights, or with the jet stream overhead such that all the stars look like ambulances.  I haven't imaged much.

 

Just need high pressure to park itself back in right place and endless clear skies with steady seeing will return.  Well, unless the monsoon kicks in...

[kgb]

Who's to say we don't stay put while the rest of you all fall into the Atlantic?

You better hope not. Who wants to live on both coasts simultaneously?

[hyiger]

 

I think this next AR is more for NoCal and perhaps central coast, so we'll see if the tail gets down here in a few days.  But regardless it's been frequently cloudy even when not raining.  Now it's still SoCal so there have been clear nights, but seemingly always during the full moon, or busy weeknights, or with the jet stream overhead such that all the stars look like ambulances.  I haven't imaged much.

 

Just need high pressure to park itself back in right place and endless clear skies with steady seeing will return.  Well, unless the monsoon kicks in...

It’s been so bad that I don’t care as long is there are no clouds. I suppose my cutoff point is if Jupiter is “twinkling” 

[SporadicGazer]

... winter has been a bust.

But silver lining!
 
Our drought is over... until next year.
 

That's better than having the San Andreas fault rupturing and dumping California into the ocean isn't it? Besides, the frogs will eat the locusts which will plump them up and frog legs are delicious. You have to consider the brighter side of our impending, collective tragedy.

Nah, that's the SoCal guys & gals! 

 

San Andreas is to the West of us up here.  If (when) it goes we'll all have beach front rubble property.

[Dave Mitsky]

https://www.usatoday...ia/72652006007/

[areyoukiddingme]

Well, the reservoirs are full, which is nice.

 

But I've also had very little viewing time. On the nights where it has seemed to clear up, the view has been 'milky'. 

 

And I spent a month in Australia, got in two nights viewing down there, otherwise it was clouded out too.

 

More than 2 months of this now. Hmm, I should re-up on vit-d.

[JohnTMN]

Followed by another atmospheric river and 4 days of rain with flooding on Monday in the cards.

Good, I hope all of California's reservoirs fill to capacity. So that we don't have to spend another year hearing about not having any water.

Honest.

Guess what? It's been cloudy here in the mid-west since November,, and, colder then you can imagine!

p.s. Understanding what "Bomb Cyclone" means is helpful.

"Gosh!"  did the barometer change?
 

Edited by JohnTMN, 19 February 2024 - 02:08 AM.

[daveb2022]

If I make 5 more nights observing this month it will reach my average. Last year was one best years I've had for some time. The heavy fires seasons a few years back filled the central valley with smoke, & it knocked out a lot of nights. But the fall of 2022 was fantastic and even though 2023 went off the charts with wet weather, I still got in more days last Feb than so far this year. If I get a late winter, spring, and early summer as nice as it was in 2023, I'll be a happy camper.

[sevenofnine]

My new Seestar is a NoSeestar but I have a new creek beside my house 

[hyiger]

My new Seestar is a NoSeestar but I have a new creek beside my house 

My new rig is nicknamed "Punxsutawney Phil" since buying brought 6 more weeks of rain. 

[areyoukiddingme]

We got 4 inches of rain last night. And there's a bit more to come . . . 

[desert_sage]

You have to consider the brighter side of our impending, collective tragedy.

 

 

It is the 2020's.

 

One man's tragedy is anothers video selfie uploaded to Y**Tube (probably with an annoyingly long and loud lead-in soundtrack).

 

Raining here in the Antelope Valley as I type.

Edited by desert_sage, 19 February 2024 - 05:23 PM.

[moefuzz]

Yup. I have an explanation as to the "why" but then such discussions seem to be forbidden here... 

Up here most know that these fires aren't "wild". Also as others have noted this is a new/recent phenomenon only having seriously being "introduced" about 8 or 10 years ago. Luckily both in Alberta and in Quebec their were arrests last year.

Otherwise, we are blessed with above average clear skies during summer and lots of clear nights during winter months although the cold may be a factor this far north.

Edited by moefuzz, 19 February 2024 - 06:38 PM.

[mountain monk]

It’s been cloudy and snowing here with no viewing for a month. I remember weeks of cold clear weather in the old Wyoming. Looks like it will be in the 30s most of this week— probably a record warm February for us.

 

Dark skies.

 

Jack

[vsteblina]

Growing up in nearby Martinez about 50yo I recall the skies being clear and blue ... or solid gray marine layer, for weeks on end. Ugh. Frustrating for a teen with a 4" reflector and just two eyepieces.

 

That said, even down in the California high desert this has been a bad winter, even for a visual guy with binoculars and a gng scope.

 

 

When I moved here 10 years ago, the skies would be clear for months on end. Of course we also had severe drought. Now it's opposite. Never had a winter like this where every night for months there is cloud cover. 

 

 

In my 56 years of living in Cali before moving northward, we never had the recurring massive wildfires, massive atmospheric rivers, record hot summers and bomb cyclones until about 2012 or so. Then it seems the floodgates were opened. 

Read this book:  https://www.ucpress....t-without-water

 

It is a climate history of California over the last 10,000 years.

 

The climate in California has been abnormally wet and benign the last 100 years.  But historically, California climate has been severe drought interspersed with atmospheric river events.

 

So far we haven't come close to the 1861 event:  https://cw3e.ucsd.ed...ram_sciam13.pdf

 

I lived in California in the 60's and 70's and there were some significant weather events like the Columbus Day Storm in 1962, and several winters with very heavy snowfall in the Sierra's.  There was also the 1976 drought when the famous expression came into being "if it is yellow, let it mellow".

 

I left California for good, in 1978 for Idaho. Yeah, the weather was weird there as well!!

 

That said I drove down to Arizona through California a few weeks ago.  Rained every day and hardly ever saw the sun until Arizona.  Didn't seem to be much of a problem to me.