Valley Fire Dash Cam View

This is a new video to me having just found it last night. It is quite compelling and reveals the experience of Lake County Sheriff's deputies contending with last month's Valley Fire in Lake County, CA, between Hidden Valley Lake and Middletown. The firestorm killed four people and burned over 1,200 homes and over 700 other structures besides scorching 76,000 acres.

Picture of the Day - When Overkill Is Good

This is how the 21-acre Gibraltar Fire near Gibraltar Peak looming over Santa Barbara, CA, and environs atop the Santa Ynez Mountains looked today after being heavily pummeled by fire retardant from various air tankers including Tanker 912. The reason for such a heavy-handed response was due to the Santa Ana Winds that started today and will last into tomorrow. Photo courtesy of Los Padres NF/USFS (all rights reserved).

Graphic of the Day - El Niño Rainfall Probabilities

The Right Elements

Tonight I discovered this gem of progressive house and am happy to have something new with which to get my groove on. "Elements" by German progressive house artist Dinka was released on February 19, 2010, so I'm only 5-1/2 years late finding this simple but exquisite track.

Graphic of the Day - California Fire Season 2015

Local NBC-TV affiliate KSBY-TV's weatherman Dave Hovdie Tweeted this tonight which I found rather interesting.
Image courtesy of KSBY-TV San Luis Obispo (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Viva Villa San-Juliette

Tonight I worked a wedding at Villa San-Juliette northeast of Paso Robles and east of San Miguel in the Estrella area. I love the appearance of the main structure after dark when it is all it up such as for weddings.
Of anecdotal interest: the 168-acre vineyards, winery, and tasting room facility were built by and are still owned by Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick of American Idol TV show (and other TV shows produced or directed) fame.
Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Scripture of the Day - Habakkuk

As Hurricane Patricia bore down on the west coast of Mexico I had a bad feeling about how things might go for the local people living in its path. The latter part of this passage kept coming to mind and thus I prayed it as part of a request for safety for those people. So far so good from what I'm hearing but the hardest hit regions are the last to be heard from and flooding rains from this storm will afflict Texas yet to come.

"Oh Lord, I have heard of your legend and have been in awe. Oh Lord, repeat those deeds again in our time, reveal them again in our age; in wrath, remember mercy."

~ Habakkuk 3:2 (Kimicus ad Absurdum translation)

My Favorite Hurricane Patricia Satellite Images

Below are my favorite satellite-derived images of super Hurricane Patricia which I've seen to date. The storm was the most powerful hurricane ever observed (aside from cyclones and typhoons) with maximum sustained winds of 200 m.p.h. and a minimum pressure of 869 m.b. Thus this is most powerful storm to ever strike the coast of Mexico. Thus far are no reports of casualties or damage. However, the current paucity of information from the worst-hit areas is ominous, not good news. Given how these things typically work, their will be many casualties and much damage. It takes awhile for aid workers to reach the worst-hit regions and get an accurate account of what has happened. All images are courtesy of NASA (all rights reserved). 

Cutoff Low, Weatherman's Woe

The recent wacky unseasonable "subtropically" thunderstorms afflicting California with rains featuring monsoonal characteristics in how they were experienced (twice) were caused by a cutoff low that went careening over California two different times. Last weekend I experienced thunderstorms over the Sierra Foothills while at a men's retreat at Hartland which would not normally happen in the second half of October. The day before I left for the conference deadly flashfloods afflicted parts of Kern and Los Angeles Counties killing at least one and shutting down both Interstate-5 and Highway 58 adversely impacting travel north to south and east to west in parts of Southern California. Remember the late Dr. George Fischbeck's old adage "Cutoff low, weatherman's woe"? Needless to say, cutoff lows are hard to predict as far as their course given they are cut off from the jet stream or any other significant steering winds. Below is a satellite loop of the aforementioned cutoff low. 

My Bold Retreat In The Mountains

This weekend I participated in my second ever Christian men's conference (the first one being at the former Camp Emmanuel a few years ago). This time I traveled to Tulare County's Sierra Foothills for a weekend at Hartland Christian Camp inside the boundary of the Sequoia National Forest near Badger, CA. I carpooled with friends to this Band of Brothers get-together in a brother's car last Friday and returned this afternoon.

Since 2006 I have always participated in the Cayucos Gem & Mineral Show this weekend. My New Year's Resolution two years running is to try new things to expand my horizons and stretch myself by getting out of my comfort zone. I've also taken to saying "yes" to things I've previously been saying "no" to and saying "no" to things I've previously been saying "yes" to and I took up several of my friends' suggestion I join them for this annual gathering.

Some of you know of my love of thunderstorms. I entered the Badger area last Friday hearing thunder and awoke this morning the day I left also hearing thunder. I also got to see vivid lightning overhead last Friday night. It is a bit late to be getting such non-wintery thunderstorms in these mountains this late in October which were caused by a passing cutoff low. Fortunately, the days are short, the sun's angle is lower, and enough precipitation has fallen that all this lightning did not start forest fires.
The forests in this area will burn in the fire next time.

This storm cell generated nearly constant thunder the entire time our group was stopped here at Sister's Mountain House in Badger, CA.

View north on Eshom Valley Drive in Hartland, CA.

The drought is obvious even inside the camp.

I love this foot bridge (view looking west back towards the road).

View looking south from the foot bridge.

View looking north from the foot bridge.

View of the foot bridge looking back towards the east.

There are other obvious signs of the drought inside the camp.

Camp sanctuary

My favorite foot bridge from the main bridge over the dam further south.

A closer view of aforementioned foot bridge from same location.

On Saturday during our four-hour free time I went on a 4X4 adventure with some of the brothers out into the adjacent national forest on forest roads and was astonished at the tree mortality I observed.

This was the worst example of tree mortality I came into close contact with all day.

Another shot from the same location on a forest road down the ridge from Highway 198.

This view was closer to Badger and Hartland on the ridge just to the north looking out to the west into the Central Valley. This is not autumn color but rather drought mortality color.

This was taken in the same area as the previous image but looking east.

When fire gets into this forest it will explode be it next year or later.

This is the charming dining hall and kitchen building. This morning I awoke to the sound of rolling thunder which was an awesome way to awaken if one must do so before or around 6 a.m.

This is the main structure in conference center featuring the office, cafe, and some lodging rooms.

I love the curves of my favorite foot bridge.

This was one of my other options Saturday. I'm glad I went sightseeing.

It rained a little overnight into this morning but not enough to put a dent in the water deficit.

One last shot of my favorite foot bridge.

We adjourned before taking communion and heading home.

The aforementioned dining hall interior. All images by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Quote of the Day - "Dillon"

"Give us strength, Oh Lord, to endure. We recognize that we are poor sinners in the hands of an angry God. Let the circle be unbroken....until the day. Amen." ~ "Dillon" (Alien 3) *Note: I neglected to include this quote HERE.

Graphic of the Day - El Niño From Hell II

This is the latest comparisonal false-color graphic comparing the last powerful El Niño with the ongoing event. This graphic shows departures from normal of sea surface temperatures with blues into purples showing below average temps and reds into whites showing above average temperatures. It is obvious this event is more powerful and pervasive spatially. Compare this to the previous graphic 2-1/2 months ago HERE.
Image courtesy of NASA.

Rise and Shine

This was the daybreak view from the International Space Station three mornings ago.
Photo by Scott Kelly under the auspices of NASA (all rights reserved)

Quote of the Day - Aristotle

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle

I'm Googoo For Gaga

Place Rammstein's "Du Hast" with Lady Gaga in a promo for anything involving horror (the television series American Horror Story in this case) and I won't be able to resist liking it.

I Am Not This Man

To prevent or clarify any confusion, I am NOT Kim Dotcom despite our similarities in regards to both of us being fat, in early middle age, having a little or a lot of German in us, and being named Kim.
Top image courtesy of Huffington Post and bottom image courtesy of Reuters (all rights reserved).

I Can Fly With This

I'm not sure why I have not shared this here before but here is Daniel Kandi's "mashup"/remix of Oceanlab's "If I Could Fly On The Surface." This trance track really gets started at the 1:14 mark and goosebump central begins at the 2:42 mark. Enjoy your eargasms from this gem of aural sex.

Back By Popular Demand

In regards to this blog I've slacked off this year generally and in recent weeks especially. Lot's of distractions and dramas and traumas that account for it some of which I shall soon reveal here. However, in the meantime, I'm back and I hope you enjoy what follows.