Weekend highs in California were down 30-40 degrees from the searing temps earlier in the week. After dealing with the heat, my jaw dropped when I read Sunday's NWS forecast for the Eastern Sierra:

 .SUNDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS AND A SLIGHT
 CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS IN THE MORNING...THEN A CHANCE OF
 THUNDERSTORMS AND SNOW SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVEL ABOVE
 9000 FEET IN THE MORNING. HIGHS 40 TO 52 IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS...
 AROUND 59 NEAR 8500 FEET. WEST WIND AROUND 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE
 SOUTH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 40 PERCENT.
 
Now that is great August weather forecast!
 
I couldn't get to the Sierra, but I could do a run in the Angeles High Country -- and I was willing to bet the upper level trough that was producing unsettled weather in the Sierra would also result in a cool, Autumn-like day in the San Gabriel Mountains.

And it did! Compared to my midweek runs, running up the Mt. Waterman trail was like going for a swim in a high mountain lake. Just spectacular!

Simi Valley and the Pacific Coast from Rocky Peak Road

What better way to recover from the Bulldog 50K than running Ahmanson and Rocky Peak on two of the hottest days of the year?

Yesterday, Pierce College in Woodland Hills hit a scorching 111°F, and then today 109°F. At the start of today's run it was still over 100°F on Rocky Peak, but extra (ice) water, and a bit of a breeze kept things mostly reasonable.

No matter the weather, you'll always see someone else on Rocky Peak!

Some related posts: Rocky Peak Rainstorm, Snow on Oat Mountain

Paintbrush on the Vincent Tumamait Trail

Thursday afternoon the temperature in Woodland Hills hit 107°F. Friday was 103°F, and Saturday 104°F. Weekdays I run in the afternoon, and after running in that heat, I needed to escape to cooler climes. One way to beat the broiling temps was to head for the high country.

There are several higher elevation areas within a couple hours drive of Los Angeles. My favorites are Mt. Baden-Powell (9399'), Mt. Baldy (10,064'), Mt. Pinos (8831'), Mt. San Jacinto (10,834') and San Gorgonio Mountain (11,499').

Today the choice was Mt. Pinos. It had been a few weeks since I'd run there, and the driving time to the Chula Vista parking lot on Mt. Pinos is about the same as that to Islip Saddle in the San Gabriels. Also, it's usually cooler running between Mt. Pinos and Mt. Abel, than between Islip Saddle and Mt. Baden-Powell.

It was a little breezy and chilly up on Mt. Pinos, Sawmill Mountain and Mt. Abel. What a change from during the week. At the start of the run the temperature was about 40-50 degrees cooler than my last run at Ahmanson Ranch.

I did an extended version of the usual 14.5 mile out and back course on the Vincent Tumamait Trail. This variation drops down to Lilly Camp (6600') on the North Fork Trail before continuing to Mt. Abel. The side trip adds about 6 miles and 1700' of gain. It was a bit warmer down at Lilly Meadow Camp, but the air conditioning kicked back in once I returned to the main trail.

Some related posts: Running Hot & Cold, Up & Down Mt. Baldy's South Ridge, Vincent Tumamait Trail, Autumn Trail Running on Mt. San Jacinto, San Gorgonio High Line 2009

Pacific Crest Trail Near Mt. Burnham, in the San Gabriel Mountains

At an elevation of 9000' the weather was sensational. Skies were partly cloudy, accentuating the terrain, and hinting of a thunderstorm later in the day. I was on the Pacific Crest Trail between Mt. Burnham and Mt. Baden-Powell, about 8 miles into a 18 mile run in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Remarkably, there was still a small patch of snow along the trail. According to seasonal summaries in Your Guide to Snowfall, the 2009-2010 season in Southern California was the best since the big Winter of 2004-2005. But it wasn't necessary to check the snow history to know the snowfall had been above average. All that was needed was to look around, and the mountains told the story.

The remnants of snow were only part of the tale. Broken and downed trees told of strong Winter winds, and the stalks of red snow plant of a cool Spring. Now springs flowed freely and once dry seeps were damp and green. Wildflowers bloomed in profusion. Squat bumblebees waddled from flower to flower, and hummingbirds darted from patch to patch of scarlet bugler.

It had been a good Winter. Sugar pines were heavy with pine cones, and new growth decorated the limbs of the white firs. The growth of tree seedlings in the Curve Fire burn area seemed to have accelerated, and the protracted process of forest replacement was underway.

Southern California's erratic weather demands that plants and trees be opportunistic. In time they have learned that an El Nino Winter is often followed by one that is dry, and La Nina looms.

Mt. Baldy fron the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell

Yesterday, Woodland Hills topped the 90° mark for the first time this year. But somebody forgot to tell the local mountains about the warmup. This morning, I was about a mile into an out and back trail run from Islip Saddle to Mt. Baden-Powell, and with the wind chill, it felt like the temp was in the 40's.

Eagle Rock From Eagle Springs Fire Road

Is it May or March? With all the blustery weather systems that have been moving through Southern California, it's been hard to tell.

Today I had planned to head back to the high country of the San Gabriels, but instead decided to take advantage of the spectacular weather and do a rambling 24 mile run in the Santa Monica Mountains.

It was a good choice. Early in the run growing mountains of silver-lined cumulus towered above the Hub, and a brisk wind tempted me to pull the sleeves from the pack. Wildflowers lined the trails, and the chaparral teemed with color, sound and scent. It was a long run kind of day.

Note: Later in the day I talked to a runner who had been at Lake Arrowhead early in the morning. He said it had been snowing down to 3000 ft! According to the NWS, record low temperatures for today were set at Lancaster (41°), San Luis Obispo (38°), and Sandberg (28°).

We've had some great running weather in Southern California this Spring, with more than our usual share of cool days and postcard skies. Remarkably, the highest temperature recorded at Downtown Los Angeles so far this year was in the final few days of Winter, when the temperature hit 88 on March 16.

The title photograph is from a recent run in the Simi Hills.

I heard a news report the other day that Southern California's rain season would end in two weeks. While Southern California typically receives the bulk of its precipitation in the months of November through April, the rain season doesn't turn off like a switch on May 1. There certainly can be significant rain in May, and even June.

The water year for Downtown Los Angeles (USC) is from July 1 to June 30 of the following year. So far, Downtown Los Angeles (USC) has recorded 16.17 inches of rain during the current water year. This is more than an inch above the 1971-2000 annual climate norm for Los Angeles of 15.14 inches.

Our Sunday-Monday storm put Downtown Los Angeles at 1.51 inches of rain for the month of April -- well above the climate normal of 0.83 inches. The normal amount of precipitation for May is 0.31 inches, and for June is 0.06 inches. But those are just averages. On occasion we receive much more than this, and sometimes much less. On the up side, according to NWS data, in April 1965 Los Angeles recorded a total of 6.02 inches of rain. In May 1921, 3.57 inches was measured; and in June 1999 0.98 inch was recorded.

Although the current El Niño has weakened, convection is still somewhat enhanced in a broad region of the equatorial Pacific, and the MEI, ONI, and GWO indicate the continued presence of El Niño. This could result in more active Spring weather than usual, and more opportunities for rain in Southern California.

At the moment, the next opportunity for some Southern California rain looks to be next week, around Tuesday or Wednesday. We'll see!

The title photo is from a run on the Chumash Trail at the end of March.

Because of their unusual "flying saucer" appearance, lens shaped lenticular clouds have long drawn attention. According to a research article in Weather, depictions of wave clouds appear in Gothic art from the 15th century.

Lenticular clouds typically form when wind flows into, and then up and over a mountain range, creating a series of "roller coaster" atmospheric waves downwind of the range. Lenticular clouds can (but don't always) form in the peaks of the waves, as a layer of air rides up a wave, and cools and condenses. The waves are called standing waves because the peaks and troughs can stay (more or less) in the same place for hours at a time.

The rising air on the windward side of a lee wave can be soared by gliders to high altitudes. According to the FAI, the current world absolute altitude record for gliders is 15,460 meters (50,722 ft.). This record was set by the late Steve Fossett in 2006, soaring a mountain wave in the Andes. Mountain wave soaring was pioneered on the east side of the Sierra, and several single place sailplane world altitude records have been set soaring the Sierra wave.

Lee waves also have a nefarious side. Rotors, breaking waves, and other phenomena associated with mountain waves can create extreme turbulence. A sailplane destroyed in early research on rotors was estimated to have experienced 16 g of acceleration. According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, "clear air turbulence associated with a mountain wave ripped apart a BOAC Boeing 707 while it flew near Mt. Fuji in Japan. In 1968, a Fairchild F-27B lost parts of its wings and empennage, and in 1992 a Douglas DC-8 lost an engine and wingtip in mountain wave encounters."

The wave clouds above were photographed northwest of Los Angeles during a trail run earlier this month. The wind forming the wave clouds appears to be from the north-northeast. The situation was peculiar because the wind at nearly all levels at that time was from the northwest. The tops of the wave clouds are being sheared by winds blowing from the northwest (left to right).

Here's an animated series of NRL satellite photos showing the waves pictured above, and the complex wind and wave pattern at the time of the photograph.

Pushed up and over Boney Mountain's two thousand foot western escarpment, Pacific winds condense into thick cloud along its jagged crest. At times breaking free of the mountain's grasp, patches of cloud drift eastward, creating a patchwork of sun and shadow on the steep slopes, and in the valley below.

In the distance, the Ventura Mountains gleam with a mix of snow and cloud, and below the fields of Satwiwa stand out vibrant and green. At my feet hundreds of purple shooting stars dance in the wind; and nearby yesterday's rain seeps and trickles from moss to lichen on the scraggy volcanic rock.

It is a remarkable morning, and an exceptional one to be doing the Boney Mountain north side loop. Here's a short HD video of some of the views along the way. (If the video doesn't play cleanly the first time through because of bandwidth issues, let it finish and then try playing it a second time.)

The weather has calmed in Southern California. Medium range models are forecasting a break of about a week in what has turned out to be a very busy rain season. Over the last 90 days a precipitation pattern typical of El Niño has emerged in the western U.S. This is reflected in rainfall total for Downtown Los Angeles (USC), which is now at 13.2 inches for the water year -- 4.78 inches above normal.

The dry weather could not have come at a better time for those affected, or threatened, by mudslides and debris flows. This small slump along a road at Ahmanson Ranch is indicative of the instability that can develop when soil becomes saturated. Had our recent wet pattern been more persistent, mudslides and debris flows might have been much more widespread and devastating.

There's snow in just about every mountain range of Southern California following last week's series of storms. This subdued sunset view is of the Simi Valley and the Topatopa Mountains.

From this evening's run in the Simi Hills.