Graphic of the Day - Upcoming Santa Anas

Santa Ana Wind events in January are not unheard of but when they occur they are usually cold events, not warm events like this one. This is yet another manifestation of new climatological norms being established in California!

Picture of the day - Poly Fall Heatwave

This was the scene at Cal Poly's Dexter Lawn this hot fall morning in San Luis Obispo. This is the hottest I recall it being here since a particular heat wave in the Autumn of 2014. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Red Flag Warned

I captured this image yesterday while working the Cow Parade at Madonna Inn. Today I worked a six-hour shift up the hill on the same property conducting parking at the Home Expo being held a second day at the Event Center. The same red flags were today where you see them in this image from yesterday. And they were blowing just the same, except this time from a full-fledged Santa Ana Wind event whereas yesterday when this image was taken, the Santa Ana Wind event was still setting up. Today in this field it hit about 95° F which is unusually hot for this valley whose climate is dominated by marine air most of the time, year-round. The flag color seemed fitting given the Red Flag Warnings not too far southeast of here and the raging Canyon Fire burning a county away today to the south on the post of Vandenberg Air Force Base. In fact, the top of the smoke bank coming off this fire was visible over the hills to the south.
Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - California Dreamin'

Today the Central Coast of California was warmed and stirred by mild Santa Ana Winds which were more intense further south and will intensify in the coming days with near-record temperatures possible as well as the threat of wildfires despite the recent rains from the current record-setting El Niño. Above is the quintessential California mid-wintertime image of a palm tree being stirred by Santa Ana Winds with a background of a clear deep-blue sky. The photo was taken this afternoon in Atascadero, CA.
Photo courtesy of Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Cal Tech Kim-Day

Today I did a "Kim Day." A "Kim Day", for those of you who don't know, is a day in which I pretty much ignore my phone, do not attend to any of my regular responsibilities, and I take a day trip somewhere to do something cool... cool to me anyway. My 1990's into much of the 2000's was one giant "Kim Day" so I don't do them much anymore having pretty much expended a lifetime's worth. In fact, nowadays, I do this less frequently than a blue or a blood moon.

I was born in Pasadena, CA. Pasadena is home. Pasadena has changed. I have changed. You can't go home again. I don't want to live in Pasadena again. However, I can visit Pasadena. I enjoy visiting Pasadena and reflecting. Then I find myself happy to leave and head back home to the Central Coast. While growing up I either lived in Pasadena-Altadena, lived in a nearby city (Monrovia or Temple City), or visited Pasadena-Altadena from the Central Coast where I have lived since 1982 when I was age 11 turning 12. While growing up on the Central Coast my family commuted to Pasadena almost every weekend after my dad died in 1985.

Earthquakes have been an integral part of my entire life... a recurring theme and a common thread connecting so much of it. Also part of my reality has been the California Institute of Technology a.k.a. Cal Tech. Being in Pasadena, living or visiting, it has been a regular presence in my life, just like earthquakes. Added to that propinquity with Cal Tech, earthquakes in Southern California made Cal Tech a regular part of my earthquake experience as it has been for all Southern Californians since the days of Dr. Charles F. Richter. The public face of Cal Tech, earthquake-wise, has been Dr. Kate Hutton for 37 years. Whenever there has been a significant earthquake, she walked us through it emotionally more than anything else, by answering our questions. She was and is not just our seismologist, but also our quake mommy whom we run to for comfort after a scary earthquake. I feel like I grew up with her even though I never met her until more recently. I first encountered Kate online on California's Earthquake Forum and a bit later on California Disasters. She is good people and, despite her celebrity, remained a regular person which is more than can be said for many people who become famous. I later met Kate in person in 2009 at the Los Angeles County Arboretum when I did the Monrovia Rockhound's 46th annual rock show. 

For some time I have been wanting to take a tour of the seismo-lab at Cal Tech. In 2006 I did the USGS Menlo Park tour on the 100th anniversary of the 1906 "San Francisco" Earthquake. Heading into the holidays this year I felt it was time to take a Cal Tech tour. This year thematically for me as been a year of not holding back and trying new things and when necessary, stepping outside of my comfort zone. I mentioned to Kate my desire to drop in on Cal Tech and she graciously agreed to indulge me. Despite my car's mechanical integrity in question I decided to "damn the torpedoes" and go down to Pasadena today and trust God to keep me safe and my car roadworthy... which He did. Initially I hoped my mother would share the experience, but she was unable to attend.  Therefore, today turned into a "Kim Day."

The cherry on top for me was the fact a Santa Ana Wind event was setting up across Southern California today. On this day, I first encountered them on the south side of the Cuesta Grade where I was buffeted by down-slope winds at about 5 a.m. When I broke out onto Gaviota Coast on Highway 101 at about 6 a.m. I was greeted by about the most magical scene I have ever witnessed. The first light of dawn was turning the waters of the Santa Barbara Channel a dark blue to almost black upon which mysterious-looking but beautiful lights on oil platforms and ships twinkled. The sky was starting to low-glow in the east and illuminate just enough of the landscape of the Channel Islands beyond and on the Santa Ynez Mountains onshore to create a spectacularly beautiful sight. I did not feel like stopping to take photos (except one) and I'm not sure many a photo taken from the 101 Freeway corridor would have done the sight due justice. At the Ventura River I encountered the first current of strong Santa Ana Winds since the Cuesta Grade earlier. I could see its footprint on the sea-surface which was rippled by the winds where just north of there the sea-surface was smooth as glass. By the time I reached the Los Angeles Basin the winds were still in the process of clearing out the haze but the north wind could be seen pushing it ocean-ward. Below are some images of the highlights of my day.

Dawn over the Santa Barbara Channel.

This the the following images were taken from the top of Lake Avenue in Altadena, CA.

Verdugo Hills and Crescenta Valley

Downtown Pasadena, CA.

Downtown Los Angeles, CA with Palos Verdes Peninsula at left in distance.

Crescenta Valley with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's campus visible at center in middle distance.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada-Flintridge.

Lake Avenue headed down the hill towards downtown Pasadena, CA.

Downtown Pasadena, CA.

Downtown Los Angeles, CA, with the Rose Bowl superstructure at right in the foreground.

Where you see hills, think earthquakes because that is how these hills were built up over geologic time.

Santa Catalina Island is in the distance, then Palos Verdes Peninsula in middle distance.

Whittier Hills and Orange County beyond.

Santa Ana Mountains in the distance.

Whittier Hills and Puente Hills

I saw this CERT class advertisement on a sign on Lake Avenue.

Dr. and Mrs. McGee's old house at 1285 Woodbury Drive in Altadena, CA.
To me it always was and remains "The Folk's House."

The new owners have really fixed it up nice.

The charming but destructive ivy is all gone in front but the wonderful trees are still there.

The late Dr. Lois Groth's old home now stands abandoned and looks like a haunted house across the street from "The Folk's House." This used to be the tidiest and neatest property on all of Woodbury Drive from east to west.

A beautiful Santa Ana Windy day in Pasadena... these are the most beautiful days of the year at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. To me this is a quintessential Santa Ana Wind scene in this neighborhood that conjures many fond memories from my childhood.

I love this campus... I'm just not smart enough to attend school there.

Perhaps the most interesting map on the wall this day at Cal Tech's seismo-lab.

The media room at the seismo-lab at Cal Tech.

Kate firing up the big screen.

This was a simulation of the earthquake early warning system.

Each media outlet has its own feed connection.

Interesting paleo-seismological exhibit.

The Cal Tech Earthquake Exhibit
All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Loop Fire 48th Anniversary!

This was the Santa Ana Windy scene from around Foothill Blvd. in Sylmar-San Fernando area of the northern San Fernando Valley on this day in 1966 during a major Santa Ana Wind event. Twelve members of the El Cariso Hotshots were killed and many survivors injured when they found themselves trapped mid-slope and not in the black while fighting the 2,028-acre Loop Fire. There is much more to be found on this HERE and I highly recommend you watch/listen to the Gerald Smith clip. It is worth noting that this weather event also caused many record-setting high temperatures for this date (and in some cases for the entire month) from San Francisco to San Diego.
Photo attribution is unknown to me but I believe the image is in the public domain now.

U.S. Marines vs. Wildfires

I came across this online tonight and found it most impressive! It features the USMC out of Camp Pendleton, CA, last Thursday participating in the suppression efforts revolving around last week's wildfires in San Diego County.

Santa Ana Winds vs. No Santa Ana Winds

What a difference 24 hours makes! These are two views from the same location on the post of Camp Pendleton, CA, last week separated by only 24 hours showing how quickly conditions improved once the Santa Ana Winds diminished. Images courtesy of 3rd Marine Air Wing. 

Picture of the Day - Fiery Moonrise

View of the Washingtonia Fire in San Marcos, CA, as viewed from Carlsbad, CA, this evening as the moon rose.
Photo by Luis Sinco courtesy of Los Angeles Times (all rights reserved).

Two Views ~ Three Fires

As many of you know Southern California has been buffeted by Santa Ana Winds the past couple of days and will be for another day or so. Today saw California's first "fire siege" of 2014 which was centered exclusively in San Diego County and rather suspiciously so I might add. Below are two images captured at nearly the same time from very different altitudes of the first three serious wildfires of the day, to wit, the Highway Incident, Tomahawk Incident, and Poinsettia Incident, counterclockwise from top right.

Photo courtesy of C. Gilbert Run via Twitter (all rights reserved)

Photo courtesy of D. Smith Show via Twitter (all rights reserved).

Random Musings of a Ramblin' Fool XLI

It is 2012 and a new year has broken forth. It finds this space experiencing a notable increase in readership. I am grateful for the interest and participation. One of the two primary reasons for this increase is the growing inventory of columns here that cover a growing range of topics. Consequently, various search engines function as a net bringing in many of those searching any particular topic covered here. I have noted that many/most topics covered here have one or more entrees in the first ten entries in a Google Search for that given topic. Needless to say, Google is a friend. Another significant reason for the significantly growing readership is that I now regularly share my content on Reddit which has opened up this blog to a much younger and hipper audience. Yahoo Groups where I have been since the beginning is an older and more mature audience whereas Facebook where I'm also heavily involved overlaps into both Reddit and Yahoo Groups' market.

Autumn 2011 Semester Results

Last semester I took 10 units in three classes. In my  3-unit History 207A class I earned an A. In my 3-unit Economics 201A class I earned an A. In my 4-unit Spanish 201 class I earned a B, the first grade less than an A that I have received since returning to college.

Spring 2012 Semester Has Arrived

Today I start classes at Cuesta College for the fourth semester since I started going back to college a couple of years ago and for the first time this time around I will be a full-time student with 14 units. I was able to schedule all four of my classes at the North County Campus on Mondays and Wednesdays in order to accommodate my work schedule. This past Monday was a national holiday and thus the semester began for me today. I am taking a 3-unit dumb-dumb Math 7 class because it has been 22 years since I was last in a math class and have forgotten much. This class was the one I fell into based upon my placement exam results. I did better on my English comp placement exams results and fell into a 4-unit English 201A class. I am continuing my Spanish studies with another 4-unit Spanish 202 class with the beloved Yolanda Solis. Last but not least I am continuing my romp through history with Dennis Judd taking the only remaining class he teaches that I have not already taken which in this case is History 207B. That class is a 3-hour ordeal on Monday nights.

Things Are Getting A Wee Bit Better

I'm still poor as a church mouse but things have gotten better for me in a year's time. This time last year, indeed, at the start of even the last semester I was not in a position to purchase all my books right at the beginning of the semester as I was able to do today as well as pay all my fees and permits which amounted to $48. Not only is my financial act together more to start this semester than at any time previous but I got motivated to sign up for my classes earlier than at any time previous in the past two years so that despite taking more classes and units this semester than the previous three semesters I did not need to crash any classes to get in as I did the previous two semesters by the skin of my teeth.

On Another Positive Note

Last week I finally managed to bestir myself into action on finishing the landscaping in my tiny backyard and the results exceeded my expectations. I utilized a bunch of eucalyptus logs my mother generously donated for the cause. Next up, Winter plantings for the Spring. Already, I have noted after trimming trees in Atascadero that up in the tops of fruitless mulberry trees there are already buds forming ready to burst forth. The warm days are tricking some plants into believing it is early Spring, bitter cold nights nothwithstanding. This was even recently noted in the Southern California news media market.

Rain Schmain

This has been one of the driest recorded rain seasons in California's history. It has also been one of the most climatologically consistent Autumn/Winter periods I can remember. It feels as if for months on end it has been brutally dry producing pleasant days with a quick warm-up into the 60's once the Sun rises but once it sets the temperatures plunge into the 20's and sometimes down to the upper teens. Rain is predicted for the end of the work week into the weekend but I'm a Doubting Thomas... I'll believe it when I see it. In the meantime, the fire season has been creeping back into California wending its way even as far north as North Ops. Wildfires of increasing size and in increasingly frequency have been breaking out in recent weeks. For the first time in a few years Santa Ana Winds have been a regular visitor to Southern California and to a lesser extent Diablo Winds to Northern California.

An Ominous Quiescence 

This seemingly extended period of no significant earthquakes occurring in California won't last forever. It has been weighing on my thoughts with gradual but inexorably increasingly gravity over the course of the past year or so. I so wonder where the next significant quake will strike California and how great it shall be and what it shall do and where I shall be when it happens. This is the calm before the storm.

On Another Ominous Note

Has there ever been such an anemic group of candidates as the current crop of Republicans vying to topple an otherwise impotent President? What should be a routine firing of a feckless President might not even happen given this crop of losers. Paleo-Conservatives in their zeal for ideological purity are turning off the Great Middle and assuring the reelection of the current President. Thanks, Assholes!

An Unwintery Winter's Hike In The Shadow of Black Mt.

The last time I bothered to capture any images along the Friis Trail in the Santa Lucia District of the Los Padres National Forest in San Luis Obispo County was back in Spring 2009 when I was somebody else and living another life both of which have since ended. Today I elected to capture the following images of the place now in a different time both in my life as well as in the context of the time of year as this is the Dead of Winter when that other visit was in the Fullness of Spring. I took my little monster Tequila with me and hiked with my buddy Mike. This time we decided to park at the top of the trail and hike down to Friis Campground, the inverse of how we usually conduct this hike. We felt Friis Trail was too short a hike so we elected to hike a significant section of the Fernandez Trail for the first time. The trail intrigued us so next time we plan to park in Friis Campground and hike Fernandez Trail all the way to Fernandez Road in the Red Hill area south of Highway 58. For reference and comparison purposes please check out my previous posting about that other visit here nearly three years ago.

View from the upper trailhead for Friis Trail on a saddle upon which Black Mountain Road wends in route to the top.

View from Friis Trail of the start of the switchbacks as Black Mountain Road commences the steepest part of its ascent.

Above is Black Mountain Road and below it in the foreground is Friis Trail.

A Santa Ana Wind engendered gorgeous warm and windy weather for our trek.

The trail wends its way beneath the trees on the lee side of a long spur ridge off the south flank of Black Mt.

Digger Pines (Gray Pines) abound.

View of the saddle at the head of the canyon from about halfway down the canyon on the south flank of Black Mt.

Granitic southeast rampart of Black Mountain.

Friis Trail passes through a mix of oak woodland and chaparral.

Oaks become more abundant along this trail with decreasing elevation.

There was much evidence of wild pigs along particular stretches of the trail in an area of the forest known for them.

At this section the oak woodland disappears and chaparral becomes dominant.

The trail wends its way through fuel beds I would not wish to be caught in when fire ultimately revisits this area.

Evidence of the last time fire was here (Highway 58 Fire in 1996) abounds.

Mature trees like this did fine in the Highway 58 Fire 16 years ago.

Normally this waterfall is active this time of year... but not this year.

The lower trailhead of Friis Trail in Friis Campground.

If I didn't know better I'd say this was a mistletoe tree.

This oak acts like an archway inviting the hiker to enter Fernandez Trail.

The upper trailhead of Fernandez Trail looking back into Friis Campground.

This eastern rampart of Black Mt. looms over the upper section of Fernandez Trail.

The trail starts out in a mix of oak woodland and chaparral...

.... but soon becomes just chaparral.

More evidence of the 1996 Highway 58 Fire that consumed 106,668 acres.

View west towards Black Mt. with the main peak being the one that appears lower to the right of the cone-shaped peak.

More headstones of the Highway 58 Fire.

The far distant ridgeline contains Black Mountain Road so we are never far from where we started

We stopped for lunch at this bench/tool depot used for trail maintenance... and then turned back.

In the center of this image running vertically is what appears to be a faultline.

This part of the trail wends through heavy 16 year-old fuel beds of chaparral.

Granitic rocks dominant this region otherwise dominated by sedimentary rock formations.

 Digger Pines are generally viewed as ugly but they are one of my favorite coniferous trees.

A local mountain biking club placed numerous jumps like this one along Friis Trail.

By the time we neared the end of our trek the shadows were getting longer.

View from back where we started when we were done.

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved)