The Big Blow

Friday night was a good one on my Mountain, though it could have been colder for my taste. It got pretty warm Friday afternoon, and our squeaky Hero Snow took a pretty good beating...especially on our west facing trails. My guys definitely earned their keep on these grinders. Surprisingly, the East Wind wasn't at all ferocious overnight. Walking down the shop road to my pickup after work, there was an almost Tropical feel to the breeze.

Once home in the embrace of the DaveCave, my body started telling me that yes I did work my ass off last night...I think I was asleep before 11AM

Some noise in the neighborhood woke me up at 5PM, I reached for the remote and fired up the local News. To a man, all lead with the Record High Temperature With Plenty of Wind stories.

Napa 79°F
San Francisco 73°F
Sacramento 74°F
Truckee weighed in at 46°F out at the airport

I went to the internet to find some cooling relief. All my weather websites are touting continued wind from the Northeast in the near term, but they all are beginning to buzz about a pattern change coming up around St Valentine's Day

Reno's AFD plays it down:

RIDGE REBUILDS INTO THE RGN THURSDAY WITH WARMING TEMPS...BUT BETTER
WARM UP TAKES PLACE FRIDAY AS RIDGE AXIS STARTS TO SHIFT EAST.
MODELS BEGIN TO DIVERGE A BIT MORE BY FRIDAY WITH GEM MUCH FASTER TO
BREAK DOWN RIDGE AND PUSH A TROF ON SHORE. MEANWHILE BOTH ECMWF AND
GFS KEEP RIDGE IN PLACE BEFORE STARTING TO BREAK IT DOWN AFTER THE
EXTENDED PERIOD. WITH BETTER MIXING THINK FRIDAY WILL BE THE WARMEST
DAY OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD. STARTED INCREASING WINDS FRIDAY AS
WELL...BUT THESE WILL LIKELY NEED TO GO HIGHER BASED ON HOW PATTERN
EVOLVES. MODELS ALL HINTING AT A SLIGHTLY WETTER PATTERN BY LATE IN
THE WEEKEND WITH SOME COOLING. THIS CAN BE ADDRESSED BY LATER SHIFTS
AS IT IS BEYOND THE EXTENDED PERIOD RIGHT NOW.

Even Sacramento's forecasters are uncharacteristically conservative:

.EXTENDED DISCUSSION (WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY)...HIGH PRESSURE
WILL REMAIN IN CONTROL ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA THROUGH THE END OF
THE WORK WEEK. WITH THE TUESDAY TROUGH SLIDING EASTWARD...EXPECT A
SLIGHT WARMING TREND WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WITH LIGHTER WINDS. THE
SYNOPTIC PATTERN FINALLY BEGINS TO SHIFT BEGINNING FRIDAY...AS A
HIGH AMPLITUDE GULF OF ALASKA TROUGH DROPS SOUTHWARD...FLATTENING
THE EASTERN PACIFIC RIDGE. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS DO DIFFER ON
TIMING...WITH THE ECMWF BEING MORE PROGRESSIVE AND THE GFS MUCH
SLOWER. FOR THE TIME BEING THE ECMWF HAS BEEN MORE CONSISTENT AND IS
THE PREFERRED MODEL. AS SUCH...HAVE INTRODUCED A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION ALONG THE INTERIOR NORCAL MOUNTAINS SATURDAY

Well I'm more than ready for Winter to make an Encore Performance!

The Big Blow Hard
I can't believe it! Today's post is my 400th since I first took the name CorduroyPlanet, way back in August 2009! That's an awful lot of hot air...

Maybe there is a human component to Global Warming, after all?

Nahhh, Just Kiddin'!