Hurricane Hilary

[AZRedhawk44]

What difference,  at this point, does it make?   

We have a rare west coast hurricane fixing to shoot up the Baja Gulf, straight up the Colorado River channel and up over Nevada and eastern Oregon.  Gonna drop a lot of valuable precipitation onto the Sierra Nevadas, the Hualapais, the Kaibab Plateau, the Shoshones, and the Southern Cascade range if it actually holds to projected tracks, but I'm skeptical it will remain on a due north track and will  veer more to the east, over Phoenix and Flagstaff and Salt Lake City.

Suppose we'll hear more whinging from California?  Their reservoirs got filled to capacity from this winter's snowmelt, but I'm sure they can come up with some reason to complain about rain in the Southwest.

[aside, but semi-related]

I went to a public hearing put on by the AZ DOT last night about a rural byway that's been shut down for 4 years due to fire and storm damage in 2019 (SR88 between Apache Junction and Roosevelt Lake).  One take-away pertinent to this thread that I heard from one attendee was that there's a bill in Congress (HR 1607) aiming to increase the capacity of the reservoirs on the Salt River system.  Roosevelt Lake and Dam was certified a while back to be able to fill over 100% capacity, and we hit peak capacity this year.  Adding a few more tens of thousands of acre-feet to the system can't hurt.

[/semi-related]

Of course ADOT wants $100+ million from the feds to pave what is a beloved dirt road, add facilities that no one wants, and to drag the whole thing out over 5-10 years so that the businesses affected by the area closure can be driven to close and sold at firesale prices to people connected to the construction project, to be reopened when the road is reopened.  Everyone at the meeting was livid at ADOT for leaving it closed this long under the guise of vegetation regrowth to stabilize hillsides; it should have been opened to at least allow sub-50-inch width vehicles to traverse as a "motorized trail." 

When pressed, they admitted that the road could be reopened for about $3.7 million, but they don't want to do that.  They also were pressed for maintenance records for drainages on the road for 2017/2018/2019, and admitted the funds were diverted to other projects elsewhere in the State.  Many boos ensued.

[/aside]

[230RN]

What difference,  at this point, does it make?   

<half serious>

What are you, some kind of do-gooder?  Don't go to those meetings.

The PTB (Powers That Be) got to be the PTB usually because of chicanery, duplicity, slullduggery, sub rosa dealings, etc, and it's hard for the ordinary mortal to counter that without embracing those same characteristics.

</half serious>

Terry. 230RN

[HankB]

. . . They also were pressed for maintenance records for drainages on the road for 2017/2018/2019, and admitted the funds were diverted to other projects elsewhere in the State.  Many boos ensued . . .

But I bet the diversion didn't actually violate the letter of the law, at least in a way that would result in criminal charges against the individuals involved in the diversion. Fill out the paperwork, and spending public funds is a GREAT path to private enrichment. The money wasn't literally set on fire, it ended up in SOMEONE'S pocket. Which, no doubt, was the whole point.

[AZRedhawk44]

Back on the hurricane, it's looking like Joshua Tree NP and Death Valley are going to get hit REALLY hard.

Death Valley and Joshua Tree got hit really hard last year, too, with washouts on roads and stranded motorists and it hadn't been fully repaired at this point.  I did a dual sport ride on the southern California Backcountry Discovery Route ("BDR") back in February of this year and those dirt backroads were absolutely hammered.  I was burning clutch on my new Tuareg in at least a foot of sand, for miles, on parts of it.

[AZRedhawk44]

So I just started researching track projections for this storm and its center actually shifted west, which amazes me.  At the same time, the projected path has picked up more curl to the east today, so that now Arizona and Utah may get more precipitation from it.

[WLJ]

I predict a lot of suicides

[Angel Eyes]

https://twitter.com/johnhackerla/status/1692392959252340982

[Ben]

NWS is reporting that even SW Idaho is going to get some of it. Nothing to write home about - around a half inch a day, but supposedly in short, heavy rain events, which always bring some flooding to the desert.

[MechAg94]

I guess we will know by Monday how it will play out. 

Lots more potential Hurricane activity in the Atlantic also.  September might be interesting. 

[JTHunter]

Appropriate name for a destructive storm, don't you think?   

The noon news say the storm is up to a Level 4 now and is about 500 miles wide.
LA is going to get a good washing. 

[French G.]

Well, I had to google. No hurricane Monica anytime soon. Much disappointment because we know that one blows.

[Ben]

Hillary, when it gets North and to Tropical storm strength, will be the first tropical storm to hit CA since 1939.

[WLJ]

Deaths Caused By Hurricane Hilary To Be Labeled Suicides
https://babylonbee.com/news/deaths-caused-by-hurricane-hilary-to-be-labeled-suicides

Californians Prepare For Hurricane By Nailing Plywood Boards Onto Their Tent Flaps
https://babylonbee.com/news/californians-prepare-for-hurricane-by-nailing-plywood-boards-onto-their-tent-flaps

[Brad Johnson]

Could sure use a shot of moisture here. Had a blessedly wet Spring, but three months of regular Century-plus daytime temps and sub-20% RH haven't been kind.

Brad

[MechAg94]

Same here.  I am sure it is not as dry here on the Texas Gulf Coast, but it is pretty dry.  Rain coming across West Texas and Central Texas would help us out here. 

[Ben]

Interestingly, we're on flood watch in SW Idaho for the next two days. I just texted my nephew in law in Redondo Beach, CA, and they're getting hammered right now, but he said no worse than any other big pacific storm. He said that there were ginormous lines at the gas stations yesterday and people were buying TP and stuff like it was covid. A friend up the coast in Santa Barbara told me they're getting nothing.

[MechAg94]

I saw a post about lines at stores in California stocking up.  A little late now.  If a hurricane is coming in here, the stores are dang near empty of stock the day before landfall.  You are down to bread and peanut butter along with some canned stuff.

[WLJ]

I just texted my nephew in law in Redondo Beach, CA, and they're getting hammered right now, but he said no worse than any other big pacific storm.

But it's Climate, please make your checks out to the DNC, Change Historic!

[bedlamite]

[Ben]

An Earthquake hit SoCal just as Hillary made landfall. Maybe it actually will fall into the ocean. 

https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-residents-feel-magnitude-earthquake-tropical-storm-hilary-descends-region

[Tuco]

An Earthquake hit SoCal just as Hillary made landfall. Maybe it actually will fall into the ocean. 

https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-residents-feel-magnitude-earthquake-tropical-storm-hilary-descends-region

Hillary claims earthquake to blame for SoCal property damage.

[WLJ]

Hillary claims earthquake to blame for SoCal property damage.

It's was a self inflicted earthquake

[WLJ]

Isn't a 5.1 pretty normal on just about any day that ends in Y in CA?

[HankB]

Isn't a 5.1 pretty normal on just about any day that ends in Y in CA?

I was in CA on a business trip once and a 3.1 centered about 8 miles from my hotel woke me up in the middle of the night - at first, I thought there was an intruder in my room that stumbled against my bed. Locals talked about it, but it wasn't a big deal.

A 5.1 would be considerably more noticeable, and would probably get the attention of long time CA residents. I'd expect little or no damage in a state like CA.

[Ben]

Isn't a 5.1 pretty normal on just about any day that ends in Y in CA?

Low fives are definitely noticeable. Depending on the waveform and length, it might be a shoulder shrug or it might be a "better step into the doorframe" quake.