Under My Radar

Sochi2014 is a week old today, and it's been fascinating to be sure. It's no wonder a lot of news that matters to me has been overlooked in the day to day of the Winter Games.

I've been streaming most of the events I care about, and not watching the NBC Broadcasts that much, except as Family-Time entertainment for the Marquee Events. We still love the American Figure Skating Pair that skates to the James Bond theme music.

Watching the LIVE Stream, you see every racer in the downhill...all 50 bibs. NBC showed All the Americans and the Gold, Silver, and Bronze runs...and every crash...these events are much more interesting viewed as they happen, in order, in full. Sochi's balmy weather and the venues' deterioration are a story that NBC barely acknowledges, but tells itself when viewed start-to-finish.

With Sochi twelve hours ahead, I'm losing a little sleep in my quest to enjoy these Games...

California's reservoirs got a shot in the arm from a nice Pineapple Express. Folsom Lake near Sacramento caught 23.8ft and gained 102,870 acre feet of water. Salmon and steelhead are grateful...

A week after NorCal's Big Gulp, record high temps have been matched or recorded in Reno, Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe. Our poor TV weatherfolks are bored already, and the forecasters and TV weather people are starting to act like shell-shocked walking wounded again.

Forecast Model Ensembles are coming into agreement on another system for Saturday night/Sunday, but it's tracking north of Interstate 80. Both Noon News shows I caught today said snow on the passes...just what the Resorts and Mountain Businesses don't need...another Holiday Weekend Rain-Out. If precedent holds, the crowds will avoid the mountains...and the 'storm' will miss wide north...This pattern is three winters old now...

Sadly, the last big International Sporting Event, the 34th America's Cup Regatta has been getting some ink...the Organizers and San Francisco's Powers-that-be are scrapping over the next regatta, scheduled for 2017. As you can imagine, it's all about money and outsized egos.

Larry Ellison, tech giant Oracle's Top Dog, and winner of the 'Old Mug' with his ORACLE Team USA syndicate is making noises about taking his ball and going home...which is his newly purchased Hawaiian Island, Lanai. Organizers are looking at San Diego and Newport, Rhode Island as well as Hawaii...

Even the design of the regatta and the challenger's feeder regatta are being argued, though I hope it's just Ellison trying for a negotiating advantage. It would be a shame if the Organizers artificially kept the Challenger Fleet small. When SturgeUrge and I went to the first Louis Vuitton Cup race between Italy's LunaRosa and Sweden's Artemis, the Aquatic Park Jetty was packed with European tourists...the majority Swedes.

The Regatta was so incredible, set against the breathtaking San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, and Marin County shores, the Organizers would be fools to go anywhere different. Contesting the next Cup in some other venue without the television eye-candy quotient, would be suicide for potential sponsors. Anyone who watched the excellent TV coverage from San Francisco Bay would be channel surfing before the first tack.

Last year's America's Cup Regatta was so hotly contested that it took me weeks to get my breath back...Sudden Death races for ORACLEteamUSA...two a day, for the final week of racing...what a spectacle! It would be criminal to lose it.

To be fair to The City, it should cost less next time around...no new venues are required, in fact the city and National Park Service could make enough cash to offset their costs just by selling access to the Aquatic Park Jetty, where SturgeUrge and I watched the first race of the Louis Vuitton Cup. At $5/head, they could bag an easy $2000/day!

There's baseball news too! SF Giants' Pitchers & Catchers report to Spring Training today! The club is streaming live from Scottsdale at 9AM PST If you can't see the full screen stream, clear your browser's cache.

Ugghhh... @NWSReno just tweeted:  Very windy on Saturday with more snow expected for the #Sierra on Saturday night into Sunday. pic.twitter.com/LCQoRFXa3X

Not what the resorts want to see going into Presidents' Day Weekend...The math is hard. The resorts have lost half of the Christmas Holidays, most are at best half open, the 49ers copped another two weekends...it's gotta be pretty grim in the accounting department...

Hey! On the bright side, Squaw's KT22 opens Friday!

Blowing Up Again

Because I'm gaining on both my BodyClock reset and this pesky cold, I was up at 7:30 Saturday morning. The forecast rain had arrived and the winds were calm. By noon, the rain was reaching my window, a pretty good trick that...sneaking under the big redwood tree that was now thrashing about enough to make me worry a little

My Twitter stream was blowing up too. Most of the Tahoe Sierra Ski Resorts were tweeting which chairlifts were "On Windhold" and the regional newspapers were tweeting Wind Reports and Warnings. By mid-afternoon, "Windhold" morphed into "Closed for the Day", and chain controls dipped all the way down to Colfax.

The last Cactus League home game for the San Francisco Giants was on television. The weather in Scottsdale was 80°F, and Scottsdale Stadium fire up the Misters for the first time this spring. (No, the Misters aren't a Blue Eyed Soul Outfit,  these are real misters...tiny nozzles that make fog to help cool the grandstands. They're popular in hot, dry climates)

The Giants could have used a good tempest...they got shelled early and lost 11-2 to the Cincinnati Reds. Their final Arizona game is Sunday against the Diamondbacks in Maryvale, AZ In the Cactus League, a 30 minute drive to the opponent's park is a Road Game...Opening Day can't come soon enough!

After the game, I made chicken and snow peas for dinner, but not before I fished the patio table and umbrella out of the pool...

The Reno NWS Office posted some cool satellite images of Saturday afternoon's dust storms kicked up by the same wind that put our lawn furniture in the pool...

As Seen From Space!

Chain controls have moved up to Nyack, but the real treacherous conditions will be in the Sierra Tahoe Backcountry Sunday. The Sierra Avalanche Center has observations from around the Basin Saturday that should be fair warning...Here's the lowdown on Donner Summit:

"Rain up to 7000' in the early morning hours quickly switching over to snow by 11am above 7500'.  Snow intensity increasing greatly by 2pm, 2-3'' per hour.  Winds SW strong to gale all morning into afternoon."

"Wet snowpack in the early morning hours.  Punchy conditions below 7500' under the 1-2'' of new wet snow.  Above 7500' 2-4'' of new snow on a more supportable melt freeze crust.  As the day progressed the temps dropped and the snow increased.  Very minor cracking in wind loaded terrain, new wind slabs were still developing into the afternoon.  4-6'' of new snow in protected areas, winds were moving lots of snow, visibility was very limited.
Photo:  Small natural wet slab avalanche observed at 8am, north aspect, 35-40 degree slope, 7000', on the north face of Donner Peak just east of Snowshed Wall."

This season, too many seem unable to resist the siren's song. Avalanche danger out of bounds will be high to extreme Sunday. I pray the cooler heads will prevail...

Let's be careful out there people, and don't be an April Fool...Heed the Avalanche Warnings!

After

Settled Down...Kinda

About last night...

Stutter-step start...not in my fave BR350
Nice to be grooming in falling snow again...
Didn't need the cloud deck settling in just before dawn...
Really didn't need the cloud deck to turn to rain...
For want of a silly cable, I went tuneless all damn night...

I remembered a very funny bit that Jimmy Fallon did the other night. I promised Driller I'd embed it.


The fire between Reno and Carson City is behaving...for now.

Gonna be another Interesting Day...

Another wild night on tap...may end in rain again...grrrr...

Friday night update:
Tonight's shift is gonna begin with rain...hurry cold front!

The Worst Is Happening

I got off early this morning, then fell asleep before noon. When the wind shook me awake at 2:30PM, my Twitter timeline came alive with news of a wildfire in the Washoe Valley between Reno and Carson City.

Evacuations are mandatory, and a few homes have reportedly been consumed. KOLO8 TV has preempted regular programming for fire coverage. Their WeatherDude reports steady 35 MPH winds in the Washoe Valley and 100MPH gusts up on the ridgetops.

Hwy 395 is closed, and Vice President Joe Biden's speech at Galena High School has been cut short to allow time to evacuate!

The fire has a name now, The Washoe Fire. It's not the only fire either...I looked at Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center page and saw The Jack's Valley Fire.

KOLO8 is streaming their coverage now, and will cover a live press conference at 5PM.

NWS Reno has extended Wind Warnings and Red Flag Warnings until 10PM.

It's just beginning to snow in Truckee, and 4 miles west, Chain Controls are up over Interstate 80's Donner Summit

Citizens Of The World!

We're all La Niña's Children now!

I noticed that the World Cup Ski Races in Val d'Isère scheduled for December 10-11, have been cancelled due to a lack of snow, and rescheduled for Tuesday-Thursday December 6-8 at Colorado's Beaver Creek.

@Liftopia linked a story about Swiss Ski Season's Start Stalled By Snow Shortage.

Here atop the High Sierra, we're woefully short on natural snow so far this season as well. Weather so far has not favored snowmaking, either. It's been the better part of two weeks now since the fans and guns ran around the clock. Wednesday I saw a couple of fans making snow at Boreal, but a look at Boreal's Webcam at 4PM showed they'd already shut down. My 2PM-ish view showed some wind...the snow looked like it was heading into the trees between trails. The nearby PWS showed peak wind gusts were into the 40mph-50mph range, on top of 18mph-20mph steady winds at the time. High Wind Warnings are up all night.

It's funny...after reading the AFDs from Reno for snowmaking, and Monterey/SFO for Tomales Bay Crab Fishing forecasts, I remembered my "new tool" for North American Precipitation Prediction, Europe-Asia Snow Cover. I wrote about it earlier in June. I took a look and a picture is worth a thousand words...

Today's picture shows Europe almost devoid of Snow Cover.

Last year looks a lot fatter...as was our early season snowpack.
 

Here they are side by side...

There's many more data points to look at but geez, NOAA doesn't make it easy to correlate all the different ocean oscillations that matter.

Big winds with cold temps finally visited the Tahoe Sierra Thursday, and snowmaking crews went to work. NOAA's Remote Data was impressive...big winds and diving temps. Ski season will begin in earnest sometime...sooner than later is my wish.

Wind In the Lodgepoles

With the wind howling this afternoon, I didn't want to have the hood of my pickup up like a sail braving the gusts, so I grabbed my camera and headed up to Donner Summit to check on snowmaking conditions. I made a loop up Old Hwy 40, East from Soda Springs up I-80 to Boreal where I turned around and retraced my route back down to Truckee.

Donner Ski Ranch needs Mother Nature's help.

Looking across Old 40, Sugar Bowl shows some very scary glaze on Mt Disney. (All the bright patches are shiny ice crusted "pseudo boilerplate" that didn't show it's shine in the photo) This snowpack is mostly what remains of the October 6 storm, and hasn't been opened to skier traffic yet. This snow has frozen and thawed several times since and was rained on last weekend before refreezing Wednesday. New snow that falls atop this glaze is going to have lots of trouble adhering to it. It's will be a natural avalanche slab-fracture waiting to happen. There's plenty of snow blowing across the ridges here too...fresh manmade snow?

Soda Springs had a lot of windborne snow moving too, but the Sun's position was not cooperating with my photography mission.

Boreal had 50-60 cars in the parking lot, assuming that maybe 20- 25 were employees' or construction workers' cars, all but one patron must have been in the lodge/bar/ski shop. The Accelerator Quad that runs to the top was on Wind Hold, I saw the one slider riding on the Castle Peak Quad.

Again, the Sierra Nevada doing it's best Himalayan Impression. Those streams of snow famously blowing from the tops of the Himalayas are powered by The Jet Stream, our are just the damn wind!

I stopped to snap Donner Lake and the barren Carson Range featuring the nearly snowfree Mt Rose.

I snapped the original Lincoln Highway below the original US 40.

The sheep were all over Donner Lake's West End Beach...and all three miles to the eastern shore.

I must confess here that all these photos were made from the comfort of the driver's seat of the car. On a few shots, dust and sand were blowing into my face and the camera upon the wind which was a steady 35mph!

High Wind Warnings across the Tahoe Basin were more than some sand in the face for these surfers on Tahoe's West Shore. I swiped the photo from KTVU 2's weatherman Bill Martin's Facebook Page.

As I write at 8PM the power is still trying to go off as it has been for more than 24 hours. The ADF says the winds will subside to a dull roar Friday afternoon, before petering out Saturday.

Catching the Whirlwind

Just like that, I'm back home in the DaveCave, the snow is falling again, and my Evil Plan worked to a fair thee well! Chain Controls fell about a half an hour before I said my goodbyes and departed the Ancestral Digs.

My trip was not without drama, however...after crossing the Benicia Bridge, I ran into a sea of brake lights JNO Lake Hermann Road on I-680...just about the spot I usually kick up the Cruise Control to 70MPH.

The superslab was dry, I can only guess that it was a blow-over...the weatherpeople were all crowing about the gusty winds an hour earlier on the Noon News.

As I crept along the RH Lane (Thanks KCBS AM 740 for the detailed traffic heads-up!), I watched the truck get tipped upright...there went my Kodak Moment...debris from the truck was piled up on both shoulders...bad luck for motorists, this happened right at an off ramp, making clearing things up a little dicey...

Once past the mess, the trip was clear sailing. The snow was falling on the Summit but it wasn't sticking at the DaveCave...I'd estimate the snowlevel to be nearly 7000 feet...probably no Hero Snow tonight...

Now the Story Can Be Told

No, there was no embargo on my story...It's an organic limitation...no time, and not enough sleep conspired to keep me from my keyboard.

The story has a happy ending though!

Blistering cold temps arrived with the cold front...already cold, temps haven't been above freezing on My Mountain in 13 days. The cold front dropped the mercury into the teens and twenties...that's the High Temperature for the day!

High winds and copious snowfall made for interesting grooming conditions...to say the least! My crew handled it with aplomb...I'm very happy with how these guys are jelling into a solid team.

So we persevered, but Mother Nature prevailed...she closed our lifts, one by one, and closed Interstate-80 with her gale force winds and heavy snowfall combining to make white-out conditions.

Jeweler offered his futon, and I wisely accepted. Talk about hospitality, when we finally got to Jeweler's place, his room mate Trevor had a beautiful plate of hors d'oeuvres on the kitchen table, and plenty of good conversation.

Trevor made pork chops and mashed potatoes for dinner, but I slept through the seating...I enjoyed the pork chop in my lunchbox that night...Trevor can flat out cook!

Friday night, the storm was all but over at midnight. No snow, no flurries after 0100, and decent seeing made for a triumphantly enjoyable night! We got plenty of corduroy made, did the digging, and were still out of there by 11AM!

I made my way home to find the driveway buried under three feet of snow with a berm...my evening away had allowed the ski-lease across the street to get their driveway cleared, so I poached the spot to park the pickup in, and waded into my garage and fired up the Honda snowblower.

The snow was deeper than the Honda's box was tall, still ol' reliable did it's usual yeoman's job dispatching the snow...an hour and 45 minutes, and the driveway was buffed wall to wall and the pickup was in the garage...I'm Saved!

Shoveling my way into the DaveCave, I didn't dilly-dally...straight into a hot shower! I made a pastrami and cream cheese omelet, a screwdriver cocktail, and collapsed...it wasn't even 2PM!

10 seconds later, my alarm went off...10PM...uggh...up and at 'em, Saturday night looked much better!

All hands on deck! We did it again...my guys kicked it, and we were off the hill early. I blew home at 65MPH and hit the hay...just a nap...I had an unavoidable meeting at 2:30PM...on my first day off in six days...I'm OK with it...the grooming crew Ruled the Universe...again!

Come on up! The skiing is incredible, and I am Outta Here!

Back and Beat

After not making it home for the first time since the DaveCave's inception, I'll just make a quick note before I'm enveloped in sweet sleep's deep embrace...

100MPH winds, and heavy snow did the Devil's Work Friday morning. My crew beat back Mother Nature's Best all night, only to lose one lift after another...first Wind Hold...all the Mountain Top Lifts...then the radio crackled with the closures, one by one...next up (or down if truth be told) the Mid-Level Lifts...wind hold...then closed for the day...Today's lift ticket will be good for another lift ticket any time...

Finally, a 73MPH gust on the Bunny Hill sealed our fate...no damage except to our pride...

Discretion being the better part of valor, I jumped at Jeweler's offer to crash at his abode rather than brave the closed highway in the abysmal daylight white out conditions...

Thanks Jeweler for the Cot n' Hot!

I'll tell the whole story Sunday...call it a bonus...try not to think of it as a Makeup Blog...

Good night!

More Wind In The Lodgepoles

The morning after my Excellent SushiFest, I decided that a photo or two of the new sashimi knife would be good for the Blog...thanks to the Celebration Ale, I'd passed on cleaning up the kitchen, and the knife was filthy...

I filled the dish pan with hot soapy water, and enjoyed another cup of French Roast. On the radio, Armstrong & Getty were in fine fettle...I was even laughing out loud as they riffed on the latest Train Wreck News, Charlie Sheen Dept.

In time, I did the dishes...my new knife air dried in the dish rack, and I grabbed my digicam, some yardage for a background, and set up my little photoshoot.

Just Damn...the knife dried with a haze on the beautiful steel blade...I grabbed the Windex™ and a paper towel...spritzed and began to buff out the haze...

I held the blade with the hollow ground side down, the back of the blade was just wall to wall shine, you know that dripping wet chrome look?

I rubbed for all I was worth...the blade was buffing out nicely...then the tip of my index finger snuck around the edge of the knife and I effortlessly sliced the fingertip...OUCH!

Day Two's BandAid...more for cushion than anything else.

Pay attention douche! Yes, it bled like crazy...I messed up the sink in the bathroom. I trussed it up with some BandAids and spent the rest of the day banging the offended digit into just about everything in the DaveCave

I slept on it, and took a look 24 hours later...what a beautiful slice! What a blade!

OK, now with my Prime Index Finger on the bench, I had time to head out with my camera to make some photos of the new snow...Stepping onto my driveway, I was greeted with quite a zephyr...the East Wind was howling...I hadn't opened the curtains all morning, so I'd missed the trees thrashing around in the wind.

I drove past Donner Lake...wall to wall whitecaps. Looking up at Donner Peak, it looked like the Himalayas...right out of the pages of National Geographic! Up I went, scouting for a good place to shoot. There was tons of blowing snow, which eliminated my first few choices. Finally I found a wide spot on the shoulder, rolled down my window and snapped a few pics...

My shutter release finger was just a little tender, even with a new BandAid, so I used the middle finger. The wind had to be 35MPH. I was surprised at how much snow was still around to be moved like that. It was freakin' cold too!

Sunday's Game

Saturday my San Francisco Giants beat Philadelphia in Philadelphia to win Major League Baseball's National League Championship and the World Series berth versus the Texas Rangers!

The game was a typical Giants victory...in doubt 'till the last out. It's become known this season as "Torture" This is how the Giants got there...they've been scratching out victories this way since the beginning of July. A different hero every day...many, many one run games...all drama...all the time.

The National League Championship Series followed suit. The Giants' win 6-5 Wednesday at AT&T Park was one for the Ages! The electricity generated by that see-saw battle could power a medium sized American city!

Now I'm following a different game Sunday. I've been following the progress of the first big Winter Storm across the Big Valley and into the Foothills and the High Sierra. Here in the Inland Valley, the storm began Saturday afternoon with rain showers and blustery winds. The winds and rain are still pounding here at the Ancestral Digs...I've decided to miss the Farmer's Market, and the rest of the errands can wait for drier days too.

@CorduroyPlanet's Twitter Feed is alive this afternoon with Weather Advisories, weather news and newspaper features on the storm from the coast to Reno.

Curiosity whetted, I surfed the webcams and they tell the story...Regular Readers will remember Saturday's Boreal image:

Today's webcam image shows Sunday's storm story:

There's been a couple of Flood Advisories posted by the NWS: First one around 10AM, then an update around 1PM.

Reno's AFD has been updated often too...mostly to raise snow levels and warn of the big winds in the forecast area. Wind Advisories, High Wind Warnings are in effect all across the State. Here in the Inland Valley, the rain really started to come down at 2PM...it's roaring down now.

It's a great day to stay indoors...cozy and warm...following the "Game"

Pumping Iron

Well, I've been paying a little more attention to the weekend forecast than I have to any forecast since April. Ditto for the NWS Forecasters.

There's lots of buzz radiating from the Sierra Crest today...it snowed overnight! @borealmtn beat @skialpine by about an hour Saturday morning to tweet the good news first. Boreal's webcam shows the incontrovertible evidence.

Alpine posted their pictures to their Facebook page.

Boreal tweeted at 10:49AM their Opening Plans (still pending weather & snowmaking, as they say) Excitedly tweeting the typo "OPENING DAT ANNOUNCED: Friday, October 29, 2010"

All the hub-bub sent me back to Reno's AFD..the Reno Office is abuzz too. They've done an extra AFD Update already today, and continue to marvel over the coming Cold Front:

THE MORE INTENSE SYSTEM OFF THE PACIFIC DRIVEN BY THE UNUSUALLY
STRONG UPPER LEVEL JET STREAM OF 180+ KT WILL REACH THE WEST COAST
BY LATE TONIGHT. LIGHT RAIN WILL SPREAD OVER LOWER ELEVATIONS OF
NERN CA-FAR WRN NV THIS EVENING...THEN CARRY INTO W-CNTRL NV LATER
TONIGHT AS WARM ADVECTION PROVIDES SOME LIFT AS THE DEEPER PACIFIC
MOISTURE ARRIVES. MOST AREAS BELOW 5000 FT ARE EXPECTED TO
RECEIVE 0.10 INCH OF RAIN OR LESS...WHILE NEAR THE SIERRA CREST
FROM TAHOE NORTHWARD TO WRN LASSEN COUNTY THE RAINFALL RATES WILL
INCREASE OVERNIGHT AS A PRECURSOR TO THE MORE INTENSE PRECIP
EXPECTED ON SUNDAY. BY EARLY SUN MORNING...700 MB FLOW WILL
INCREASE TO NEAR 50 KT...ALLOWING FOR SOME GUSTS TO 40 MPH TO MIX
DOWN ALONG THE LEE SIDE OF THE SIERRA INTO THE HWY 395 CORRIDOR.
LOCAL WIND PRONE SITES COULD RECEIVE GUSTS NEAR 50 MPH THRU MID
MORNING...PRECEDING THE STRONGER WIND EVENT EXPECTED FROM LATE
SUNDAY MORNING THRU THE REST OF THE DAY.

THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE TAHOE BASIN AND INTO THE
RENO-CARSON CITY VICINITY ON SUNDAY FROM LATE MORNING THRU EARLY
EVENING...AND EXPANDING SOUTH TO MONO AND MINERAL-LYON COUNTIES
SUN AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. INGREDIENTS FOR DOWNSLOPE WIND EVENT
REMAIN IN PLACE ESPECIALLY NEAR HWY 395 CORRIDOR WITH 60-70 KT
WINDS AT 700 MB...STABLE LAYER EXTENDING FROM 700-600 MB AND SOME
PRECIP SHADOWING ALSO HELPING AS WELL. EVEN IF SOME RAIN FALLS AT
TIMES IN THE RENO-CARSON VICINITY...THE WINDS WILL STILL HAVE
POTENTIAL TO REACH HIGH WIND CRITERIA ESPECIALLY BTWN 2 AND 6 PM.

All abuzz just like every first "real storm" of the Fall, everyone is pumped! My heart rate pumped up too, when I read 180+ Knot Jet Stream...the forecast team had been waxing poetic almost as the system developed and their models foretold possible scenarios. I loved this from Friday afternoon's AFD:

A SECOND...STRONGER STORM SYSTEM DRIVEN BY A POWERFUL 180+ KNOT JET
AND FUELED BY A LONG FETCH OF MOISTURE IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC

I like the salty sound of that...Long Fetch...salty as in nautical. Then I read the 180+ Knots deal, and I'm thinking aeronautical...I'm pretty sure you could land an FA-18 Hornet (like the Navy's Blue Angels fly) at 180 knots in a pinch...good thing that's the Jet Stream and not down on the deck (read Sierra Ridges)!

Airspeed guage for a multi-engine aircraft...much lower performance than the FA-18!

There are some High Wind Warnings set for Sunday into Monday...


Snowmaking weather is less certain going forward. There's plenty of confusion in the models this far out...say 48 hours and beyond...a lot of stuff happening along the storm track. Persistent high clouds would scotch the whole snowmaking program by acting like a lid on a saucepan, keeping temps warm and humidities up.


Stay tuned, as they say...

Good Times/Bad Times in the VOS Sunday

Thunder Mustang "Rapid Travel" cartwheels into Stead Field sagebrush

The weather weirdness continued out in The Valley Of Speed Sunday. The high winds associated with the passing of a Frontal Band made conditions a little problematic for the racers and their aircraft. On my way out to Stead, I saw a cloud of dust blowing through the saddle atop Peavine Peak, to the West of Stead Field. I've never seen that before in 28 years going to Stead Field to see the Reno National Championship Air Races.

During Sunday's Super Sport Gold Race, the second place racer, George Giboney in the Thunder Mustang "Rapid Travel" pulled up on Lap 3 and called a Mayday. The little Mustang was smoking as Giboney traded speed for altitude and smoked again once he neared the field and turned on final. As he approached Runway 26, a 40MPH gust of wind caught him, he missed Runway 26, and landed hard at a 45 angle to the taxiway, and while trying to steer away from the Static Display Aircraft and the milling crowds, drug a wingtip and cartwheeled into the desert. The aircraft lost it's wings and the fuselage came apart to where witnesses reported seeing Gilboney's legs flailing in the wind!

Tense moments for the crowd followed before there was any news beyond the announcement of a "Situation" From my vantage point out in the Valley Of Speed...at the far end of the race course, the situation was just a cloud of dust at the right end of the strip, and a vague announcement over the Public Address system which is simulcast on the Reno Air Racing Association's low power FM radio station.

Another Fenceliner who's folks were in the grandstands proper, got call via cell phone from them that related the grim scene, which he in turn shared with his neighbors at the Fenceline.

After an eternity that was really less than 10 minutes, the PA announcer broadcast the good news, pilot George Gilboney was standing in the sagebrush next to the "Rapid Travel's" debris field. When I got home to the DaveCave, I read on the Air Racing Bulletin Board that Mr Gilboney was seen in the team's hanger with his feet up on the desk enjoying a cold beer. Injuries? A cut on the head.

So relief washed over the grandstands and finally reached the Fenceliners. All that remained was to run the Breitling Unlimited Gold Race. We waited.

Over the PA system, the Announcers were introducing the Unlimited Gold Class pilots and their storied aircraft to the assembled crowd. The Race Planes were parked at Show Center, in front of the grandstands with the Breitling Home Pylon in the background. Thousands of Air Race Fans snapped photos as the intros continued. Finally the announcer said: "Ladies and Gentlemen, here are the four words you've been waiting all year for...Gentlemen...Start...Your...Engines!"

Nothing happened...

The senior announcer, the voice of the Reno Air Races chimed in: "The pilots aren't in their aircraft. Pilots it's time to saddle up!"

Nothing happened...

Finally an Unlimited Pilot came on mic and said the pilots were meeting to discuss the weather issues and related safety concerns and would deliver their verdict at 5PM.

Out at the Fenceline, it was blowing like Hell. I considered going back to the car for a long sleeved shirt and sweatpants...even though I was staioned in the lee of the substation's fencing.

At 5:03PM the announcement was made...the Gold Race was scrubbed...30+MPH gusts were just to risky should there be another Mayday. What's more, there would be no postponement! There was no contingency plan to race Monday...too many volunteers would be unavailable to safely run the Big Show. The winner on points is "Strega" winner of Saturday's Gold Heat 3A.

I was out in the VOS for about two hours...driving home I felt like a crisp potato chip...that was serious wind. I heard a traffic report on KKOH Reno's 50KW blowtorch News/Talk Station. High Wind Warnings on NV HWY395. Stead Field is right alongside HWY395.

Many stories were left unfinished Sunday in the Valley of Speed. The mundane narratives and the Cinderella Stories will have to wait until September 2011 to be told. I'll be there...with bells on!

Keep 'em flying!

After Action Report

0530 Tuesday
Well, if you consider layin' about surfing the 'Net for weather data to be actual action...

I've lost last night's skirmish in the BodyClock Reset War. Gusty winds woke me from my unplanned nap. The winds freshened for three hours after I awoke at 0130, then the power flickered four times in two minutes around 0440...amazingly it stayed on!

The latest look at the Mountaintop Sensors show the peak gusts may have passed. The top of Slide Mountain El.9650, is showing 70 gusting to 95, while the top of Squaw El.8700, shows 65 with gusts to 120+

Slide's numbers are easing...down from 90 with gusts to 120, while Squaw's are still inching up from 60 with 100+ gusts. The Reno AFD says the wind will blow all day..the Wind Advisory expires at 5PM tonight, then the Winter Weather Advisory kicks in until 9AM Wednesday.

I tuned in Sacramento's CBS Television Newscast. and they're doing a bunch of live remotes of rain, wind and downed trees across the Big Valley. They opened with the Weather, it being all telegenic and all...Sacramento's NWS Office jumped the shark and issued a Winter Storm Warning through 11PM Tuesday. Reno's Office says the Eastside (venue for Jerry Otto's Fish Camp) won't get hammered, and stands pat with Advisories...check that, Reno's upgraded to High Wind Warnings 'till 5PM now (0637PDT)

0648 Tuesday
The Sun rises earlier through the miracle of Digital Video than it does for unaided human eyes...looking at the webcams around the region, shows a bunch of dry scenes...strangely, the radar says it should be falling at the DaveCave, and has for better than two hours...lookin' out the window, it's a dry front porch.

From my position as the lowly Rear Guard in the BodyClockWar, it's looking like a steep uphill battle to wind the stem back to sleeping all night...sigh...

Wow! Power's flickering again at 0700, and the Local TV News is showing live Skype Video of wet roads in Colfax...here it comes!

D'oh! The snow is starting to fall at the DaveCave...7:08AM...Good Night Dear Readers..I'll just pull the White Flag up over my head and close my eyes now...I don't have the energy to wave it this morning.