Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW How'd you get into theater? 'The stage doors were open' ... Mix saw thousands of dollars go down the drain when water didn't ... Fake grass offers real water savings ... How'd you get into theater? 'The stage doors were open' ... Mix saw thousands of dollars go down the drain when water didn't ... Fake grass offers real water savings ... WEATHER OR NOT Weather or Not: First part of February was wet and wild Comment By Doyle Hirsch DailyTidings.com By Doyle Hirsch Posted Mar. 16, 2015 at 2:37 PM By Doyle Hirsch Posted Mar. 16, 2015 at 2:37 PM » Social News Wet and wild: No, I'm not describing a frat house pool party but the first 10 days of February. The 6.19 inches I got at my location was the wettest 10 days I've recorded this century and the second wettest 10 days I've recorded, period (my records go back to summer 1985). Only the flood of 1997 was greater: 8.44". The fact that there was very little flooding can be attributed to three factors: 1) There was virtually no snow pack to melt despite relatively warm temperatures(not the case in '97); 2) The abnormally warm January meant there was virtually no frozen ground; and 3) The warm, dry January with low moisture levels in the soil permitted a lot of the precipitation to sink in instead of running off.  That we got a lot of rain at all is in itself rather unusual. The storm came from the southwest with strong southeasterly winds. This scenario usually puts Ashland in a strong Siskiyou rain shadow and causes the infamous "Ashland Doughnut" (since there's a circle of area with lower rainfall surrounded by a ring of higher rainfall). But about one out of every eight to 10 storms will get through despite the down-slope, southeast winds. This happened in '96/97 and again this February. When this does occur, Ashland will usually get the most rainfall in the area, often even more than the "Ill-annoy" Valley, one of the wettest inland locations in Western Oregon. Another oddity of this storm was a sort of hidden cold front in the middle of the alleged warm front. A littler after midnight on Feb. 6 I noticed a distinct temperature drop of about 10 degrees and a wind shift from SSE to ESE. I didn't think much of it at the time but it had a profound effect on Mt. Ashland — they got a good shot of snow that allowed them to open with a decent base. This effect was quite localized. "Mt. Shyster," 75 miles to the south, had beaucoup rain but no snow and still remains closed. I'll bet, in hindsight, they're now regretting moving the lodge down 2,000 feet from its former location. I was more impressed by the wind than the amount of rain. Although I have definitely recorded higher gusts than the 57 mph max during the storm (I recorded a 67 mph just last December), I don't recall ever having as consistent a high velocity — in one four-hour stretch the wind hardly dropped below 40 mph. It blew down a lot of trees and fences on the east side of town. But it was far from worst I've experienced. That was on a Friday the 13th in 1983 in Gold Beach. I was staying in a single-wide mobile home up on concrete blocks, about 2 miles inland from the coast. The wind was picking up the mobile home and dropping it back down on the blocks most of the night. I figured I was a goner. All I could think of was Fred Sanford's words whenever he had a fake heart attack: "I'm comin' to join you, Elizabeth, it's the Big One!" The next morning when I drove into town, peeps were busy boarding up all the windows that had been blown out on the main street (U.S. 101). The post office, which for some reason was built facing south where the winds usually come from during storms, had its doors blown in, as well as all its windows shattered. The local paper said the National Weather Service reported gusts of 113 mph. Now that's wind! So far we're ahead on rainfall for both the so-called water year and the calendar year, but a dry spring could put us back in "Smoke City" come July and August, particularly if they're as hot as last year. Of course, we could always have a wet summer. But that's pretty uncommon — the last one I remember was 1976. And, as the days grow longer and the temperatures rise, it's hard to get that mid- and low-elevation snow that's so critical for fire prevention. They say optimists live longer than pessimists, so I'm gonna call for a wet, cold spring. Of course, I also said that Apple wouldn't amount to much so I bought stock in Microsoft in the late '90s. Weather or Not by Ashland weather statistician Doyle Hirsch appears periodically. By Doyle Hirsch DailyTidings.com By Doyle Hirsch Posted Mar. 16, 2015 at 2:37 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501