The Heart of Three Men

A year ago at this time my then-dying friend Jon Marsh received a life-giving donor heart from Roger Knott, a man who had himself just received a donor heart. This older gentleman died from unrelated complications after carrying the donor heart only one month after receiving it from Mark Girard, Jr., a younger man who died in an assault. This one-heart-in-three-people arrangement has previously happened only ten other times in the history of heart transplantation. I visited with Jon a short few weeks before his transplant and an account of that visit may be viewed HERE. Below is a short piece on this amazing story and below that is a poem Jon published today about his experience around the time of these events one year ago.

It was just another day in the hospital.
More tears, more heartache....loss....defeat....depression.
I began the process of making my peace with God.
I tearfully cried for God to close my eyes.... so I could be with him.
The pain was certainly a factor....but my spirit was broken, beaten....down.
No longer could my dying heart hang on.
So I started to thank tearfully everything Jesus was to me....
that he stuck closer than a brother.... a dear friend and my Lord.
How God spoke to me in my darkest hour.
When the storms of heart failure were killing anything that was still left....
....MUSIC no longer gave me joy.
My smile shattered by waves of loss....defeated....broken....searching for peace.
Finding solace in the darkest place....the coldest day.
The longest day becoming a nightmare.... death was all around my bed.
Death was welcome so that I might live again....
....so I could stand before my God and hear the words....
...."Well done good and faithful servant."
I perceived I had fought the good fight and finished the race.
I prepared my wife....I informed her I really felt and believed that I DID NOT have much longer....
....and I need to start saying goodbyes.
I wept bitterly as I GOT OFF THE PHONE with my wife.
I thought of my son....his smile....his life....I was his daddy....
....my wife....but Lord she needs a husband!!!!!
God reminded me that he Is our daddy and we are his children.
The night progressed and on January 31, 2015....God was not finished with me.
Shortly after speaking with Laura....Dr. Pretorious came into my room....In street clothes no less....
He was coming to tell me I had another blood clot and I was not much longer for this world....
thank you Jesus I was wrong......PRETORIOUS spoke the words to me....
I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU....I HAVE A HEART FOR YOU JON....
....its a high risk heart....but it's a strong heart.
I called my wife and shared the news.
We stayed up all night with thankfulness and prayers we were together as a family.
The road has been a long one.... to always remember.
And when you are broken, lost and defeated....
God sends all the right people....sending his Angels, his prayer warriors.
And the example of JESUS.... who shed his blood and suffered for me....
....that I may one day have eternal life....and life more abundantly.

~ by Jon Alston Marsh

Picture of the Day - A~Town Buttermilk Sky

This is an unaltered/unenhanced image I captured early this evening at the intersection of Curbaril Avenue and El Camino Real in Atascadero, CA. It features a setting sun illuminating a buttermilk sky/mackerel sky as the next powerful El Niño enhanced storm approaches with a Pineapple Express component. The associated fetch of atmospheric moisture reaches out to the west beyond Hawaii and extends across the Pacific Ocean eastward through California and across North America into the Great Lakes region.
Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Tonight I'm Infected

Tonight I have tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, and tuberculosis. (‪#‎Tdap‬ ‪#‎tuberculosistest‬)

Ghosts From Tonight 316 Years Ago

Tonight at about 9:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, a M9.0+ earthquake struck the Pacific Northwest, Northern California, and Southwest British Columbia. It was generated by a full rupture of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a large subduction zone roughly equivalent of the one which caused the Great Tohoku Earthquake in Japan in 2011. This event generated a Pacific-wide tsunami which caused damage in Japan where it was recorded by monks as an "orphan tsunami" as there was no quake in Japan to which it could be attributed. Given Native American oral traditions and tsunami deposits along the coasts of Oregon and Washington, it is clear that there were casualties among local peoples at that time. This earthquake generated lasting topographical changes where parts of the coast were sunk below sea level killing these sitka spruce trees whose roots previously had been in freshwater above the heavier seawater level and in some cases the forests were dropped into the sea as the ocean extended inland. Such a case happened with the Neskowin Ghost Forest along the Oregon Coast in Tillamook County. Before tonight I had not previously seen this haunting relic of not only the 1700 earthquake, but in the case of some trees, other such events over the course of the past two millennium or so. Over that period, successive great quakes have lowered the land in this region. However, the most recent event alone dropped this area by up to 30 feet in elevation.

R.I.P. Joe

This evening I discovered that somebody with whom I grew up died overnight last night. I have known him since sixth or seventh grade as well as his brother to a lesser extent and his even younger sister to even less an extent. However, we all used to hang  out with our moms together and go to places like Hazard Canyon over at Montaña de Oro State Beach near Los Osos, CA.

I watched him grow up at Atascadero Junior High School and initially at Atascadero High School as he was a grade below me. It seems to me he disappeared after awhile which as it turns out was due to his transferring to the Continuation High School in Atascadero.

We lost touch for about two decades after that but reconnected on Facebook and at a social function in Atascadero a few years ago. Through mutual friends in the know, I became aware in more recent years that he had been a minor drug dealer in Atascadero in his younger years. Apparently, he had long abused drugs and alcohol for much of his life. From his rough appearance and premature aging as well as how he spoke and his mind functioned it was clear to me this was quite true.

Last night he died in his sleep of cardiac failure as his heart finally gave out after all he put it through over the course of his 43 or so years. It was haunting and melancholly to look at his Facebook page tonight and see his last post was at 9:57 p.m. I "liked" it and posted the response, "Oh Joe, please go to a hospital right now and not to sleep...." I suppose it would not have mattered if he did.

Graphic of the Day - So Elemental A Table Too

When looking at/thinking about minerals it is important to think about not only the elements which comprise them (or that they are if they are elemental minerals) but also it is important to think about from whence and when those elements originated. Being the visual creature I am given I am a male of my species, I really like this modality of explaining the origins of various types of known elements. In the Nuclear Science class I am currently taking at Cal Poly we have delved into the origins of the various elemental groupings and I have learned things I never knew before which has been exciting. I enjoy having filled any important gaps in my knowledge of how things work and how they came to be. This is the second time that some formulation of the periodic table has appeared in this Graphic of the Day column on my blog with the previous one being HERE. Chart courtesy of NASA's Cmglee (all rights reserved).

How The Force Awakens

Yesterday, I found this rather compelling short film showing off but some of the special effects in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It is accompanied by an extremely beautiful, compelling, and haunting score. Crank up the speakers and go full screen with the vid! Note: the haunting accompanying track is "I Love You" by Josko but it is a remix and I know not who remixed it.

Trump Card As Ace Of Spades

This week we watched Sarah Palin endorse Donald Trump's candidacy for U.S. President and assert that her son's recent assault on her daughter-in-law and pointing an AR-15 at her head was the fault of Barack Obama (so much for the Conservative virtue of personal responsibility). Today we learned that Donald Trump has proudly announced that his supporters are so loyal they would stick with him even were he to murder somebody walking down New York's 5th Avenue. I would like an explanation from somebody still supporting him as to how and why they are able to still do that. Is it cognitive dissonance? Misanthropy? Nihilism?

Altara From Altitude

I recently found this track while patrolling Youtube for new amazing tracks and appropriate awesome accompanying videos. It is called "Altara" by Swedish trance artist Johan Vilborg which here is remixed by Canadian electronic music artist Nigel Good and was released in 2012. I never grow weary of watching orbital imagery (International Space Station in this case) even when I've seen some of it before as is the case here. However, some of it may be new to me. Turn up your speakers and expand the music player to full-screen.

Picture of the Day - Don't Shoot Swimmers!

Today I hiked the back part of Santa Margarita Lake Park at the east of end of Santa Margarita Lake (Salinas Reservoir) via the River Road entrance. In the parking lot of the trailhead I noticed this arrangement of signs and immediately realized it could be interpreted to mean something quite different than what was intended. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Word of the Day - Ruction

This evening while reading an article in The Economist I encountered the word "ruction" which forced me to inquire as to its meaning which the Oxford Dictionary defines as follows:

"A disturbance or quarrel." "Unpleasant reactions to or complaints about something."

Graphic of the Day - El Niño From Hell IV

This is what the ongoing El Niño looked like from Jason-2 ten days ago on January 8, 2016. The previous image HERE was captured December 27, 2015. Notice there is a lot more that is above average than below average in regards to ocean surface temperatures and near-surface temperatures. For more on this check HERE.  Image courtesy of NOAA (all rights reserved).

Another Come Home

I found "Come Home" by Canadian electronic music artist Nigel Good tonight on Youtube. Both this LTN-remixed progressive house track and its accompanying video are well-worth listening to/watching. DJ LTN is Louis Tan of Indonesia. This is a different "Come Home" track than the one I posted in December, 2014. 

Picture of the Day - Oregon Thunderegg Opal

Earlier tonight I noticed this image on Facebook. It came with no provenance aside from somewhere in Oregon. It also came with no photographer attribution. Having once owned a smaller specimen of this type of Oregon opal gemstone material shaped into an egg, I know this specimen likewise came from Opal Butte, Oregon, in the northeastern quadrant of the state. Above one can see part of the thunderegg outer shell at bottom right. Photo courtesy of Amazing Geologist on Facebook (all rights reserved).

Central Coast Tsunamis Aren't An Abstraction

Earlier this evening I became aware of the AGU abstract below written by E.L. Blanck and entitled Large California Tsunamis From Central Coast Historians And Central Coast Newspaper Records which for an aficionado of local history as well as disasters is 100% pure gold. It gives some detail to some events for which I had no previous knowledge. What this document demonstrates is that the Central Coast has been hit by tsunamis much more frequently in the early historical period than more recently which is a bit ominous when you wrap your mind around all the repercussions of that reality.

"Approximately, 1996, Unocal historian Darwin Sainz mentioned the newly built Union Oil “Oilport” refinery in what is now Shell Beach (between Pismo & Avila Beaches and at 50 to 100 feet elevation) was destroyed by a tsunami in the early 1900’s. July 2009, George Plafker reported, “a bigger earthquake and a more destructive tsunami than the 1964 event are possible in the future”.

The 1812 Santa Barbara Channel earthquake produced 5 tsunami waves approximately 50 feet in height to the front of the Santa Barbara Presidio based on a Franciscan Father’s journal. A book on “Shipwrecks, Smugglers, and Maritime Mysteries” by Wheeler & Kallman reports the largest wave was 48-50 feet estimated by the USGS west of Santa Barbara near Goleta.

The “History of San Luis Obispo County, California” by Thompson & West (1883) reports 12 feet tsunamis occurred on August 13, 1868 (Peruvian earthquake) and April 16, 1877.

On November 22, 1878, turbulent water in the absence of wind produced tsunamis that broke over the Morro Bay sand spit (current quad sheet high elevations 66 to 97 feet N to S), destroyed Avila & Pt. Sal piers, damaging Cayucos pier.

A Japanese earthquake resulted in a tsunami at 12:40 PM December 9, 1907, near high tide and in already heavy seas, that stood out from the rest of the storm due to its’ enormous height. It wrecked the Ventura pier (12-13-1907, SLO Tribune) and the Oilport pier (12-13-1907, SLO Tribune & 12-6-1976 also 12-14-1907, Santa Maria Times & 12-10-1907 SLO Telegram) at Shell beach and destroyed the Oilport refinery (Darwin Sainz, personal communication).

Before 7 AM on November 26, 1913, tsunamis wrecked the Monterey area including waves 10 to 15 feet above the Del Monte wharf. At Seaside, “Immense domes of water and foam shot up above the general height” … “appearing from here to be higher than the highest sandhills along the shore.”(12-2-1913, SLO Tribune) Current quad sheet high elevations are 120 feet.

These reports of historic tsunamis represent wave elevations significantly higher than the 1964 Alaska earthquake tsunami that is typically used for emergency planning for tsunami inundation in California. Since it appears 4 much larger tsunamis occurred in the Central Coast area in 1812, 1878, 1907 and 1913; it appears we may have become complacent during this recent period of tsunami quiescence. Emergency planning for Central Coast tsunamis should be anticipating tsunami waves in the 50 to 100 feet elevation range."

Picture of the Day - This Aurora Is Finnish

This is one of the best images of the Aurora Borealis I have ever seen. It was taken last night in Finland and features not just the usual green light pattern but even some blue and peach coloration in odd patterns. Image courtesy of Antti Pietikäinen (all rights reserved).

Graphic of the Day - California For Beginners

I found this the other day and immediately loved it. I like the disaster mentions with "tsunami magnet" up Crescent City way, "big volcano" up Mount Shasta way, "death caldera" over Mammoth Lakes way, and "usually on fire" down Santa Ynez Mountains way.

Powerball Scam as Distraction & Diversion

Watching revelers celebrating at the 7-Eleven in Chino Hills where the single $1.5 billion Powerball winning ticket was purchased makes me feel surprisingly sick to my stomach. Perhaps I'm being a bit negative and a big downer and overly-conspiratorial and too serious. However, it struck me that these upper lower class to lower middle class people I was seeing are reduced, in this dystopian interpretation, to celebrating this distracting scam. All the while the ownership of the nation benefits from the distraction it affords them and delays the day the torches and pitchforks come out. Meanwhile, the government of the nation laughs all the way to the bank as it collectively on the state and federal level takes about 2/3 of that winning bounty in taxes. For more details on this read HERE. This means that the real winner of the Powerball was the United States Federal Government, not some poor schlub in the Inland Empire. 

*NOTE: since this was posted, it has been revealed that at least two other people (Tennessee & Florida) have winning tickets so the $561 million or so left over after the government gets its cut will be divided at least three ways.

Picture of the Day - Full Earth-Rise

This image was cobbled together from a series of images captured October 12, 2015, by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. This HD image composite was released December 18, 2015. For more about it read HERE. This is stunning and really puts a lot of things in perspective. Image courtesy of NASA (all rights reserved).

Scripture of the Day - Paul (Rom.12:18)

Over time, I keep hearing my more virulently Conservative Christian friends and acquaintances (not all of them, but some of them) rail against the underlying message represented in the COEXIST bumper-sticker which features each letter stylistically featuring some identifying symbolic element of a different great faith in the world.

What I suspect they are offended by is the idea that all the world's faith's are equally valid and like spokes of a wheel all lead to the Creator of all things but merely represented differently in various cultures. Certainly, that is the underlying message by those who sport these bumper-stickers on their automobiles. I agree that there is only one way leading to God because God Himself has made that abundantly clear. However, the concept of "coexist" is fundamentally Christian and also a direct command from the throne room of heaven to God's people living on this Earth. Below is the best characterization of this command:

"To the degree possible and whenever you can, live at peace with all people."
~ Romans 12:18 (Kimicus ad Aburdum translation)

The Best of Bowie

Tonight it was announced that the legendary David Bowie died at age 69 a couple of days after his birthday upon which his last album was released although at least one track from it was released a couple of months early. To me he was an essential part of my first experiences with MTV in its Golden Age of the early to mid-1980s.


This was my favorite Bowie track and accompanying music video. It was released in 1983 appearing in the album Let's Dance. I have fond memories of hanging out with childhood friend Jon Marsh and watching this on his MTV.


This is my second-most favorite Bowie song and accompanying video. It was released in 1983 and it, too, was in the album Let's Dance. It likewise gives me a similar sentimental reaction from being experienced the same as above.


I still remember (and love) this song from the 1986 Jim Henson movie Labyrinth which I saw with my mother and brother on vacation in Portland, OR, in the summer of 1986. That was our first big family trip without dad following his death several months before. 


Here is David Bowie's swan song "Blackstar" which was released late last year and is included in the album Blackstar which was released on Bowie's 69th birthday just a couple of days ago. Given Bowie had been battling cancer the past 18 months or so, therefore he was sick when filming this music video which is clearly thematically his swan song.

Picture of the Day - Transluscent Hallow Pele's Tear

This is a Pele's Tear, the Hawaiian equivalent of the Apache Tear. This particular one has just been discovered two days ago at Kilauea and is the first of its kind yet discovered. For a better description read the USGS's caption for this image: "This photo shows a one-of-a-kind, completely hollow Pele's tear about 1.5 cm (1/2 inch) long. It was found on the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu and was ejected in association with this morning's explosive event, probably during the aftermath when the lake surface was spattering vigorously." Photo and quoted caption courtesy of USGS's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (all rights reserved).

Daddy Video Bomb Is The Bomb

Tonight I belatedly became aware of this viral video in which a dad video "bombs" (cuts in unexpectedly and upstages) his daughter's performance of last year's hit song & dance "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" by Silentó. Mike Jones' daughters are unaware of this while their grandmother (Mike's mother) records the show. The family resides in Mississippi and this video and the story behind it nicely undermines negative stereotypes of white Mississippians. Read more about this story HERE.

When PC-Denying Becomes PC

Yet another emotionally-crippled, thin-skinned, chicken-hearted, intellectually-vapid Liberal "friend" of mine just bugged out of an open and respectful debate on Cultural War matters. Tonight's short-lived dialogue on Facebook was about the question of PC (political correctness) actually existing or not. This person just shut down the debate by locking me out. The irony is that this person took the position that PC only exists in the minds of Conservatives who want to talk smack about minorities and women. That is such a stupid and spurious over-generalization to begin with and itself is an example of PC which is designed, amongst other things, to shut down open debate. What happened tonight shows this person does not live in the real world but rather in a self-righteous Liberal bubble of denial. This person just confirmed that PC actually exists and is commonly promulgated by Liberal pseudo-intellectuals like this person of whom I speak. Liberals like this person want to live in a "safe space" where their overly-simplistic assumptions are never challenged, but rather are validated and they themselves are reaffirmed. For this person, denial is not a river in Egypt and irony is not a type of metal.

On another note, Liberals and Conservatives are not one iota fundamentally different. However, there are some cultural differences. Conservatives, who are not correct any more often than Liberals, will argue incessantly and even viciously but they will not unfriend you or block you or delete your comments, while Liberals will do it more often than not it seems in my experience. Conservatives are stubborn and hard and often wrong. Liberals are stubborn and soft and often wrong.

Backtracking From A Flash Flood

This was the scene on Highway 23 in Ventura County between Fillmore, CA, and Moorpark, CA, this past Wednesday as a thunderstorm passed over the area. It reveals the second half of the fire-flood cycle that is so prevalent here in California. This thunderstorm was part of a large storm system that was one in a series this week that had a distinctly El Niño characteristic.

How Vader Murdered Skywalker

Many Star Wars fans (myself included) and even non-fan observers have noted that Obi-Wan Kenobi seemed to lie to Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars movie (A New Hope) when he told him his (Luke's) father Anakin Skywalker had been killed by Darth Vader when in reality they were one and the same. The more we thought and think about it we realize(d) that the statement was actually true in a sad, poetic sort of way. This short clip does a very nice job of revealing that in an audio-visual sort of way.

Trespassation & Transgression

Today I realized that in the previous day somebody had stolen two barrels filled with recyclable cans and bottles I was about to redeem this weekend. The barrels were in the carport separating my little house from my landlord's larger home. The carport is accessed from a north-south trending alley which connects the east-west street south of me from the one north of me. Whomever did this took not just my recyclables but the two cans which contained them. This is a theft not worth making a report over but it is in keeping with a trend in Paso Robles of late that has even forced the police department to send out an email informing the citizenry that this is happening (theft in general) and to be on guard. This is a minor thing on a practical level but I feel a sinking sense of being violated and disrespected. Somebody felt entitled to what was not their's and entered my sphere while I was at school. This leaves me with a vague sense of unease and disquiet.

Graphic of the Day - U.S. Billion Dollar Disasters in 2015

I just spotted this on Twitter and could not resist sharing it here. Image courtesy of NOAA (all rights reserved).

Interstellar Performance

From the first time I viewed the amazing film Interstellar in the theater until tonight, I have been haunted by the movie and by its magical score, a sample of which is featured in the player above. This score earned an Academy Award for Best Score. Please enjoy!*
Note: this is the second time a Hans Zimmer cinematic score has made it on this blog, the previous being that for his "Time" piece from the movie Inception which you can view HERE.

My Crazy California Morning

Weird morning to start the day.... I woke up in Paso Robles to the sounds of loud rain and thunder and vivid lightning which freaked out cat and dog.... a check of Twitter revealed that a house had caught fire in nearby Atascadero due to being struck by lightning and a modular home with a woman inside it was flipped by a weak tornado on the east side of town this a.m. .... then as I left Paso Robles on Spring Street southbound towards US101 riding with my carpool driver (my friend Blake), I noticed an unmarked constable SUV with front hidden lights all lit up headed back to the police station, the driver having forgotten his lights were still on.... my carpool driver had seen him and another constabulary unit searching a car over by the Arco Station on Niblick Road en route to pick me up.... on the south side of the Cuesta Grade en route to Cal Poly we, encountered the aftermath of an apparent police chase with about eight constabulary autos, a fire truck, and an ambulance all parked behind it, but some distance away from a car that had driven northbound off the highway and up a hill a short distance. It turns out the car contained a woman driver threatening to harm herself and which standoff lasted most of the morning.... we arrived on campus to no buses running and a Cal Poly text alert informing us that a bomb threat shut down all San Luis Obispo bus service and we learned later it was a Cal Poly student who prompted it as the bus entered the campus while packed with student en route to class.... then during the second half of my first class which runs from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., a raging thunderstorm swept over campus with torrential rains, high winds, and pounding thunder all three of which I could hear (as well as a girl's shriek at one point) from inside my classroom down in the bowels of the PAC (Performing Arts Center).... fortunately, the afternoon and evening today were much more sedate.

Graphic of the Day - Celestial Sphere

Artist Pablo Carlos Budassi created this unusual representation of the known universe which he explained this way: “Our Sun and the solar system are at the very center of this image. They are followed by the outer ring of Milky Way Galaxy, one of the two major arms of Milky Way, a ring of other closer galaxies like Andromeda, rest of the cosmos, cosmic microwave background radiation leftover from the big bang, and finally a ring of plasma also generated by the big bang.” Read more about it HERE. To view a more expanded version of this image click HERE and for massively expanded version click on the image in the window accessed via that link. Image courtesy of Pablo Carlos Budassi via Wikipedia (all rights reserved).

Let's Keep It Consistent, Y'all

When the President of the United States is a Republican, my Conservative friends seem to have no problems with the activities of various federal agencies from the Department of the Interior to the Justice Department and so on. When the President is a Democrat then these self-same Conservative Social Justice Warriors spontaneously switch perspectives and cast vile aspersions upon the very same government agencies doing the very same activities. And you don't think Conservatives (like Liberals) exist in nearly entirely emotional/cultural bubbles whose surfaces function as heavily filtering lenses through which reality is highly distorted?

Graphic of the Day - El Niño Get's Its MJO

This interesting graphic comes to us courtesy of a Discover Magazine blog post HERE. It refers to the Madden-Julian Oscillation in the Tropical Pacific Ocean that is currently intensifying the ongoing El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean. (Earth image: Japan Meteorological Agency. Diagram: Mike Baker, National Weather Service, Boulder, Colorado. Graphics mashup: Tom Yulsman)

Picture of the Day - "El Niño"

The late and beloved SNL icon Chris Farley contributed his memorable character, "El Niño", to weather history in this skit which ran in the fall of 1997 within several weeks of his untimely death due to drug overdose.  Watch entirety of skit HERE. I chose to share this today because after all the nay-saying by the nattering nabobs of negativity in regards to a stormy weather pattern not having yet arrived, El Niño really has arrived and today California got a fairly decent clobbering from the atmosphere with damage reported.
Image courtesy NBC (all rights reserved).

Graphic of the Day - El Niño From Hell III

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 especially as compared to last October when I previously posted this graphic comparison HERE.
Image courtesy of NASA.

Picture of the Day - Putin On The Wrist

Per a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty article I just read there is a new scent on the geopolitical wind.
Image courtesy RFE/RL (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Change On The Wind

Earlier this evening I had a security detail at a wedding at the AARP building in Atascadero, CA. I arrived 15 minutes early and captured this image looking southeastward just before 4 p.m. PST. What is revealed is the drought-afflicted, dry lakebed of Atascadero Lake, previously submerged ruins, and a sky indicating a change in the weather pattern from cold and dry shifting to a more El Niño weather pattern with an invigorated subtropical jet stream guiding a series of Pacific storms into California in the coming days. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).