A “monster high”
I was searching for some positive news tonight… and settled for a weather report!
A “monster high” pressure area is giving California record-setting high temperatures! The monster high also stirred up winds of 75 miles/hour (120.7 km/hour) on Mount Diablo (1).
Livermore had a high of 71 degrees F (21.7 degrees C) on Sunday and the forecast was at least as good for today (we actually reached 70 degrees F [21.1 degrees C]), so I rode to an assignment this morning on my Honda Shadow motorcycle. Since the weather was so cooperative (especially for January), I thought that I would do my part to help drive back down those gasoline prices that have been rising for the last month!
(Note added January 16, 2009: I rode the motorcycle to assignments every day this week! Sure, there were a couple of mornings at 40 degrees F [4.4 degrees C] that got a little “nippy” 
at highway speeds [California “unofficial” highway speeds tend to be a little higher that those of other states, and a little higher than California’s “official” highway speeds]. The pleasurable riding in the warm afternoons more than made up for any minor discomfort in the mornings, however.)
Although the ride this morning and the ride home this afternoon were both WONDERFUL (you motorcyclists in other parts of the country and world, with your bikes in winter storage, know what I am talking about), there is one big “downside” to the warm weather, as well as a potential “upside” for this weekend.
The bad news is that warm weather in the Bay Area is bad for water levels in reservoirs. I saw predictions of “no rain” clear through January 22, which would make this January one of the driest Januaries on record! (Remember that we only get rain roughly 3 months of the year.)
The good news is that the worldwide weather pattern (besides being wonderful for motorcyclists in California right now) may make for MONSTER WAVES, 40-foot (12.2-m) waves at “Mavericks” as early as Friday. Champion surfers from all over the world (even champion surfers have died there) have a 24-hour notice to reach Mavericks when wave conditions are right and the surfing competition is announced. Mavericks breaks over an ocean reef one-half mile off the coast of Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay (actually Princeton-by-the-Sea).
The trick is that we (and the surfers) never know for sure exactly WHEN the event is going to happen!
(Note added January 18, 2009: No, the Mavericks surfing contest did not happen this weekend – we’ll just have to wait!)
-Bill at Cheshire Cat Photo™
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