Red Flag Warnings!

[2dogs]

While slowp and Andy and other are battling snow, rain and floods Collyfornia is under Red Flag conditions. Locally (Santa Cruz) it is very dry. The roads on the ranch are dusty and following the cows it feels like summer. Temps have been in the mid eighties the last few days with many records set. The hay fields are not looking good either. We will have to cut back on the number of head we can run if the late spring rains fail to show up.

Anyone know a good rain dance?

http://fire.boi.noaa.gov/

 

[Tree Sling'r]

We are in the same boat. Not as warm, but just as dry. Our mountains have the lowest snow level for this time of year I have ever seen in my 34 years here.
Possibly another break out fire season is upon us.

 

[slowp]

While slowp and Andy and other are battling snow, rain and floods Collyfornia is under Red Flag conditions. Locally (Santa Cruz) it is very dry. The roads on the ranch are dusty and following the cows it feels like summer. Temps have been in the mid eighties the last few days with many records set. The hay fields are not looking good either. We will have to cut back on the number of head we can run if the late spring rains fail to show up.

Anyone know a good rain dance?

http://fire.boi.noaa.gov/

When washing the car doesn't work, a sure fire way to make it rain is to have me come down and approve skidder logging in a dried out but normally wet area where if it rained, they'd create environmental doom and have me assure all the concerned people that it will stay dry long enough to get the logs out.
Then, it'll rain. Oh, and no rock on the roads either.

 

[2dogs]

When washing the car doesn't work, a sure fire way to make it rain is to have me come down and approve skidder logging in a dried out but normally wet area where if it rained, they'd create environmental doom and have me assure all the concerned people that it will stay dry long enough to get the logs out.
Then, it'll rain. Oh, and no rock on the roads either.

I will be putting together the right people who will assure the county You are the expert we need. Make sure your body armor is in good condition and wear your hard hat at all times. You will supplied with a black truck with no license plate and it will have blacked out windows. How many antennas will you need? Don't mind the tree sitters just don't get under their trees.

Your code name will be Rain Goddess 2. Uh... RG1 hasn't been found yet but don't let that worry you.

Make sure you are resistant to tofu and a cup of Fair Trade coffee is $54.00 plus tip.

 

[Gologit]

When washing the car doesn't work, a sure fire way to make it rain is to have me come down and approve skidder logging in a dried out but normally wet area where if it rained, they'd create environmental doom and have me assure all the concerned people that it will stay dry long enough to get the logs out.
Then, it'll rain. Oh, and no rock on the roads either.

Well, you better start packing. Lake Oroville is at 27% of capacity. The other, smaller, resevoirs in the area aren't much better.

We went below minimum allowable snow pack on our job. We needed 24"...in most places now it's below 18". Our job is an area that usually has at least three feet of snow this time of the year and doesn't really melt off until the middle of June. I thought last year was a poor year for snow pack...this year is worse.

All of our mills are already high-decked and full of burnt logs from last year. If we have another bad fire season there might be a lot of work on the fires themselves but I don't look for much burn salvage afterwards.

LOL...Anybody got any GOOD news?

 

[smokechase II]

Pretty cocky with all that Karma Slowp

"When washing the car doesn't work, a sure fire way to make it rain is to have me come down and approve skidder logging in a dried out but normally wet area where if it rained, they'd create environmental doom and have me assure all the concerned people that it will stay dry long enough to get the logs out.
Then, it'll rain. Oh, and no rock on the roads either."

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My money is on murphys law.

California, with all those budget problems is more likely to have its own bad luck without anyones help.

I'm saying bad luck is a good fire season.

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Good luck y'all and don't be afraid of burning stuff now.

 

[forestryworks]

the dry there doesn't sound different than the dry here... lots of folks' stock tanks are bone dry...

it looks pretty bad here, we haven't had a decent rain since june or july

 

[Cedarkerf]

LOL...Anybody got any GOOD news?

It hasnt rained here in 24 hours:greenchainsaw:

 

[RandyMac]

In the upper left hand corner of CA, we have set high temp records three days running, maybe today too. Since July 1st, we have only got a bit more than two feet of rain, we normally have three feet or better by now. We were already a third short from last year.

 

[hazard]

I'll give you all the snow out of my front yard. I think we are on pace to break last years snow fall record which was 30" above the previous record. There is probably 2' or more. It was at this level or better once before already this year but melted.

Not that I do any logging but I sure would like to get out and cut some firewood but there is to much snow.

Goodluck
Chris

 

[slowp]

It hasnt rained here in 24 hours:greenchainsaw:

Here either and with the new culvert under the highway, the unwanted lake is draining well. We are having fog in the mornings though.

I supposes you Collyfonians will suck all our forest money again this year for firefighting purposes. I'll have to work ovetime for no overtime up here while hearing the fire guys boast about how much they made. Then the fire people will whine because they won't get to go to some place like Hawaii for training because of the budget....it never ends.

Yes, simply drop the trees, move your equipment in, and get ready to skid or yard in a normally wet area. That usually causes a deluge. I've had a floating deck on a landing before.

Don't rock any of the roads either.

 

[Gologit]

Here either and with the new culvert under the highway, the unwanted lake is draining well. We are having fog in the mornings though.

I supposes you Collyfonians will suck all our forest money again this year for firefighting purposes. I'll have to work ovetime for no overtime up here while hearing the fire guys boast about how much they made. Then the fire people will whine because they won't get to go to some place like Hawaii for training because of the budget....it never ends.

Yes, simply drop the trees, move your equipment in, and get ready to skid or yard in a normally wet area. That usually causes a deluge. I've had a floating deck on a landing before.

Don't rock any of the roads either.

LOL...Yup. It's a little scary to be predicting a bad fire season and it's only January. We still haven't finished the burn salvage from last year's fires.

And don't worry about your overtime money...it's being given to the private sector.

 

[smokechase II]

You don't know how good you got it!

"Yes, simply drop the trees, move your equipment in, and get ready to skid or yard in a normally wet area. That usually causes a deluge. I've had a floating deck on a landing before."

REVERSE ORDER:
Picture a hurricane coming in and dropping a few feet of rain, (Hugo in South Carolina), and blowing over 1 billion board feet.

It was so wet they had to set up floatation decks to function as landings.

This is where the British in red wool coats couldn't find some guy named the swamp fox. Without slope nothing drains very fast.

We had guys who would put their western style logging boots in a washing machine to get rid of the assortment of fungus and other growing things. You can't buy enough tinactin.

 

[slowp]

"Yes, simply drop the trees, move your equipment in, and get ready to skid or yard in a normally wet area. That usually causes a deluge. I've had a floating deck on a landing before."

REVERSE ORDER:
Picture a hurricane coming in and dropping a few feet of rain, (Hugo in South Carolina), and blowing over 1 billion board feet.

It was so wet they had to set up floatation decks to function as landings.

This is where the British in red wool coats couldn't find some guy named the swamp fox. Without slope nothing drains very fast.

We had guys who would put their western style logging boots in a washing machine to get rid of the assortment of fungus and other growing things. You can't buy enough tinactin.

That is why I choose to live here. I don't do hot and humid. Makes for irritability of my temper and skin. Nope. Today was 50s. 50s are the exact right temperature.

Bad news. I started walking the little community kept and walked trail. I didn't get very far. There's a wash out and mudslide. The trail is covered in mud for a good ways. It got dark so I couldn't check too much of it. I would gladly pipe some of our recent runoff south right now. Maybe not later though. Here's a picture of the trail.

 

[smokechase II]

How much damage to the Forest?

SlowP:

How bad did the rain storms trash your forest with regard to trees going over?

Down here we had an ice storm on Mt Bachelor that closed areas for awhile.
The pics of the ice on the towers was impressive. With wind it dropped lots of tops and trees and they spent a couple days cleaning up not making money.

Lots of clean up on the mountain means there could be another addition to the fuels layer. Just trying to be positive.

==========

We set a record with 62 degrees yesterday. Miserable, really.
I hate it when the moon is so bight and clear in the night sky.

 

[slowp]

SlowP:

How bad did the rain storms trash your forest with regard to trees going over?

Down here we had an ice storm on Mt Bachelor that closed areas for awhile.
The pics of the ice on the towers was impressive. With wind it dropped lots of tops and trees and they spent a couple days cleaning up not making money.

Lots of clean up on the mountain means there could be another addition to the fuels layer. Just trying to be positive.

==========

We set a record with 62 degrees yesterday. Miserable, really.
I hate it when the moon is so bight and clear in the night sky.

I don't think any worse than usual. Hard to tell as there is too much snow or a slide to get much of anywhere yet. The slide I found the other day was behind a Slide Area sign. A flight has been scheduled for an aerial view.

Let me see, our old FMO here used to balk at sending crews away to save dead lodgepole. He wanted us here, because we had valuable TIMBER to protect.

 

[smokechase II]

Yeah, Oh Yeah!

But it is a lot of dead lodgepole with a great view.

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We are toast.

 

[slowp]

Speaking of weird weather. Chehalis was 36 and foggy. I headed back home to the sun. About Morton, the fog ended. Then as I dropped down into The Big Bottom, the insided of the car felt hot. I opened the windows and the air was not cool.

We have a Chinook blowing in. I went for a walk up the hill and it got warmer, rolled up my sleeves, the Used Dog was panting and stopping to lay down in the snow (still have that to contend with)then we dropped down the hill, and turned a corner and got cold. Walked on the flat towards the house, turned a corner and warm again. Strange stuff today. I'm thinking it was close to or was 60ish in the warm spots.