posted on July 13, 2006 09:26:43 PM
Is the Sawtooth or Joshua fire close to you? You can probably see it from where you are. If it gets into those bark beetle dead trees in SBNF, things could get sticky in a hurry, so keep your exit options open.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 13, 2006 09:53:31 PM
Hi, Sparkz: No, the fires aren't near us yet; we're in a different mountain range completely. KNOCK ON WOOD, though, with extreme fire danger posted now. Yucca Valley is about an hour's drive by freeway from Idyllwild. But Idyllwild had a pall of smoke on the high peaks this evening. If I were to climb one of the peaks here, I could see the smoke plumes. As it is, we can't see them.
Edited to add: For 3 years we've had a master list of valuables to grab in case we have to leave in a hurry. Photos, journals, important papers, that sort of thing. Medicines, changes of clothing, computers.
[ edited by roadsmith on Jul 13, 2006 09:54 PM ]
posted on July 13, 2006 09:58:28 PM
You've all been on my mind this evening. Think I heard 31 THOUSAND acres had burned! I hope you are to the west and won't have to breath the ash.
I'll take hurricanes any day! I can tread water lots longer than I can hold my breath.
posted on July 13, 2006 10:04:15 PM
The weather isn't going to help for at least a week either. The forecast is for low humidity and triple digits up to 115 for the next week. As you know, there are two hurricanes spinning off the coast of Mexico today. Bud will go west and die in the cool water in a couple days, but there's an off chance Carlotta could push a surge of monsoonal moisture into southern and central Cal around the first of next week before she turns west and dies. That would go a long ways toward dousing those fires and lowering the temps. Never thought I'd see the day I would be rooting for a hurricane to get stronger.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 13, 2006 10:19:47 PM
Just be sure to keep an eye on those fires. Heat that intense can generate tremendous winds, sometimes to tropical storm strength, that can cause a fire to change direction rapidly. Just stay aware and stay safe.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 14, 2006 07:33:23 PM
Here's a visible satellite weather image of Calif. Note the plume of smoke in San Bernardino County, just north of the Riverside County line. That's from the fire we're talking about. This is a live updating image and the sun is going down in Calif, so you may have to wait till tomorrow morning to view it.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
[ edited by sparkz on Jul 14, 2006 07:35 PM ]
[ edited by sparkz on Jul 14, 2006 07:52 PM ]
posted on July 14, 2006 07:57:48 PM
Hi, guys. We're fine here. My husband took the Palm Springs tram up the mountain, hiked to the peak (10,500 ft) and then hiked home. He said they were up there just as the two fires merged, and the plume looked like an atomic bomb blast.
All of us have done everything we can to prepare for a sudden fire: raked, trimmed up tree limbs for 30 feet from any structure, cleared underbrush. And we have an evacuation list ready at a moment's notice: photos, letters, important papers, a little jewelry, some changes of clothes, the computers. That sort of thing.
We're told that a treetop fire racing up the mountain would hit our yard and be gone in about 1 minute--so it all depends on how carefully we've followed directions on underbrush, etc.
The sky is still hazy from that fire so far away, but we all know it could happen to any village in these mountains, too.
[ edited by roadsmith on Jul 14, 2006 07:59 PM ]
posted on July 16, 2006 12:33:20 PM
Been keeping up with all the news, sure wish they could get a lot of rain come in and stop the fires. Hope you don't have to leave and you keep safe. Fire is very scary and unpredictable. My prayers are with everyone out there.
Been very hot here also highest on my 3 thermometers was 109 on Thursday 106 Friday and Saturday and it is now 107.5 Also no rain in forcast and just melting here in North Central Texas just below Wichita Falls is where I live.
**************
You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me!
posted on July 16, 2006 01:38:59 PM
It's a little cooler, a few degrees, today, but still uncomfortable, and the sky is hazy from the fires. The thunderstorms predicted are a mixed blessing, since they'd also carry the chance of lightning-caused fires.
I keep thinking of the early pioneers in the desert areas of Arizona and California. The combination of no air conditioning plus the long skirts and many undies the women had to wear just blows me away. Only thing they could do, I used to hear in Phoenix, was wet some sheets and other cloths and hang them in the windows.
High temperatures all over, and I don't want to over-generalize, but. . . global warming, people.
posted on July 16, 2006 01:56:14 PM
It's sarting to really warm up here in the Valley, up to 110 degrees in some places. I was looking at a weather map of Calif and noticed for the first time how the San Joaquin Valley resembles a roaster oven. Just hope the Elect. grid holds up. It's too darn hot to get out there and jury-rig an extension cord from a generator to an evaporative cooler. I hope the monsoonal moisture rolling in soakes those fires good and any lightning hits out in the desert sand where it can't hurt anything.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 16, 2006 04:51:12 PM
Hey, Sparkz, It looks like autumn in my yard. The leaves are just frying off of the more delicate deciduous trees. I'm watching the fig tree, it's still got no problem, but at about 116ºF it'll start to look like ya hit it with a torch.
posted on July 16, 2006 05:11:42 PM
Park...It's going to be interesting to see what happens if the thunderstorms that are predicted show up starting Tuesday. Those figs will be diving for cover
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 16, 2006 06:52:31 PM
Park: You have a fig tree? Where do you live? Growing up in Phoenix, one of my favorite smells was a big old fig tree in a neighbor's yard. Very sweet smelling and distinctive.
posted on July 16, 2006 09:12:14 PM
mailbox:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Adele/Application%20Data/Thunderbird/Profiles/7q1qo8pw.default/Mail/pop.greencafe.com/Inbox?number=463753966&part=1.2&type=image/jpeg&filename=120_2077.jpg
[ edited by roadsmith on Jul 16, 2006 09:13 PM ]
Oh heck. I'm trying to include a photo my husband took but I don't know what I'm doing wrong. He sent it to my computer's e-mail, I copied the image location, and it just doesn't work.
[ edited by roadsmith on Jul 16, 2006 09:14 PM ]
posted on July 16, 2006 09:18:41 PM
Looks like it's still on your hard drive. You need to upload it to your Vendio image files, then copy and paste the location and filename (on Vendio) to a post. I can take it from there.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 16, 2006 09:20:25 PM
Sparkz, duh, I just figured it out.
Okay: This is taken from near the top of Mt. San Jacinto, in the San Jacinto range, looking north across a valley that includes the city of Banning (you can see signs of a town 'way below), to the San Gorgonio range. As the crow flies, the distance is about 25 or 30 miles. The fires are behind the front range of the San Gorgonios.
[ edited by roadsmith on Jul 16, 2006 09:23 PM ]
[ edited by roadsmith on Jul 16, 2006 09:25 PM ]
[ edited by roadsmith on Jul 16, 2006 09:26 PM ]
posted on July 16, 2006 09:28:09 PM
WOW!!! I see what you mean by it looking like an atomic bomb explosion. That smoke is drifting over Las Vegas into Utah.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 16, 2006 09:31:43 PM
Sparkz, see my even larger picture, above the one you kindly helped with.
Bob says he has other photos that more distinctly show a mushroom cloud, stem and all; he said his hiking group, Club Geezer, had never seen a smoke plume that resembled an a-bomb blast so closely.
posted on July 16, 2006 09:44:50 PM
It also resembles the beginning formation of a supercell thunderstorm where the heated moist air on the ground rises in a huge column until it hits a cool layer, condenses and really goes wild. If you ever see a cloud in the midwest that looks like that, you better start hunting an underground shelter, because there will be a tornado in your immediate future.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 17, 2006 08:53:04 AM
Big thunderstorm last night, somewhat cooler today. I expect the helicopters any moment, looking for lightning strikes. So far, we're not aware of any.
posted on July 17, 2006 11:01:55 AM
The "sleepers" are the dangerous ones. A strike hits a tree and it smolders for a week before it bursts into flame. These can be very difficult to spot from the air with the infrared imaging equipment.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
