Thanks for the explanations. Sparker, one thing we have not had this December is rain. Last year's 12th month was record-setting. So far we have had a real drought and very high barometric pressure. Most unusual! Generally when I see the needle at the 3 o'clock position it means an arctic air mass with freezing temps. There have been lows in the 30's on the coast with some days seeing the highs in the 60's. On occasion we get a few nice days of sun without wind that are not cold in December but something as long lasting as this dry spell is not characteristic. Thank heavens the rains came to put out what was the nation's biggest fire by Brookings for if this had been a drought fall all the way through, there would be little left in Curry County.
Myosh, as to wind velocity, there's the news as a source and we all know how inaccurate it can be, even for something as non-political as the actual weather conditions.
Rick
Looks as if the jet stream has moved even farther north -- or is arcing further east, if Coos Bay isn't getting much in the way of rain. The times I've been up the coast on 101 -- regardless of the time of year -- there seemed to be something of a "marine layer" of moisture extending along a large portion of the coastline -- if
that goes away or is driven offshore by easterly winds, I can certainly see how that would leave the area vulnerable to particularly nasty fires, considering the densely packed foliage there. Let's just hope that isn't the case -- or if so, it's only for short periods of time. BTW, while it's true that the prevailing wind speed in the Sonoma County fires was in the high 50's or low '60's, it didn't come in short spurts or gusts; it was pretty much continuous during most of the fire event -- and
that's what was frustrating to firefighters -- no letup. And the speed increased overnight in the worst cases. The accounts of the firefighting effort from various fronts are just beginning to show up in local newspapers and TV broadcasts in the area (after a bit of a news break to give the affected people some "down time"). So far, pretty harrowing! It's surprising the loss of life wasn't in triple figures!