PG&E weather forecast for Wednesday February 2

February 2, 2011

By JOHN LINDSEY from PG&E

Sea Swell:

Today’s 3 to 5-foot (310-degree deep-water) northwesterly swell (with an 11 to 13-second period) will continue at this height and period through this evening.

A 4 to 6-foot westerly (275-degree deep-water) swell (with an 18 to 20-second period) will arrive along the Central Coast tonight, increasing to 5 to 7-feet (with a 14 to 17-second period) on Thursday through Friday morning.

A 5 to 7-foot west-northwesterly (285-degree deep-water) swell (with a 13 to 15-second period) is forecast along our coastline on Friday afternoon through Saturday morning, decreasing to 3 to 5-feet on Saturday afternoon and night.

A 3  to 5-foot northwesterly (300-degree deep-water) swell (with an 8  to 17-second period) is forecast along our coastline on Monday through Tuesday, decreasing to 2 to 4-feet next
Wednesday.

PG&E San Francisco Met Office predicted temps:

Inland Temperatures, Paso Robles

Actual                    Predicted

Tue          Wed        Thu          Fri         Sat         Sun         Mon        Tue         Wed
39-61     34-60    27-62    27-68  33-71   36-72    38-70     37-68    35-70

Coastal Valleys Temperatures, San Luis Obispo

Tue          Wed        Thu          Fri         Sat          Sun         Mon        Tue         Wed
39-65     39-65    34-64    36-70   41-75    45-74    45-72     43-71     40-70

Preliminary analysis:

A large storm is no longer forecast to develop off the Kamchatka Peninsula next week.

ATMOSPHERIC CONDITION:

A 1,039 millibar high over the Great Basin combined with a stationary 1,030 millibar Eastern Pacific High about 400 miles west-northwest of San Luis Obispo is producing gusty northeasterly (offshore) winds, especially in the coastal canyons and passes. This condition is also producing a strong Santa Ana wind event in Southern California this morning.

Mostly clear and gradually warmer temperatures will continue through Sunday.

Temperatures will range from the low to mid 60s in the North County to the mid to high 60s in the coastal valleys. Overnight lows will be chilly, with areas in the North County dropping to the high 20s by Thursday. Low temperatures in the coastal valleys will dropto the mid 30s.

Temperatures will gradually warm as the week progresses, reaching
the mid to high 70s in San Luis Obispo by this weekend.

The strong high pressure ridge responsible for this mild weather will gradually weaken and migrate westward late next week. At this time it looks like our dry weather pattern could change by about mid February with increasing chances for wet weather.

DIABLO CANYON AIR TEMPERATURES:

Diablo Canyon Meteorological Tower Air Temperature Data

Yesterday’s          Today’s          Tomorrow’s
Min    Max        Min    Max         Min     Max
49.6°   57.3°     49.8°   60.0°      51.0     60.0

WINDS:

This morning’s moderate to fresh (13 to 24 mph) and at times gusty northeasterly (offshore) winds will decrease and shift out of the north by this afternoon through tonight.

A pattern of gentle to moderate (8 and 18 mph) northeasterly (offshore) winds developing during the night and morning hours, shifting out of northwest during the afternoon hours will commence on Thursday and will continue through Monday.

Another round of gusty northeasterly (offshore) winds may develop on Tuesday.

DIABLO CANYON METEOROLOGICAL TOWER WIND DATA:

Today’s winds:

Max peak winds:      NE       36.7 mph at   0:45 a.m.
Max sustained wind:  NE       21.3 mph at   0:45 a.m.

Yesterday’s Maximum Winds:

Max peak winds:      NW       24.6 mph at   3:15 p.m.
Max sustained wind:  NW       21.5 mph at   3:15 p.m.

SEAWATER TEMPERATURES:

The Diablo Canyon waverider buoy is reporting a sea surface temperature of 53.6 degrees while the Nortek AWAC current meter is reporting 53.4 degrees.

Intake seawater temperatures will range between 53 and 55-degrees through Saturday.

OCEAN CURRENTS:

Both the DCPP Cal Poly CODAR stations and the DCPP Nortek AWAC meter are indicating a northerly (onshore) flowing current.

This northerly (onshore) flowing current will continue to flow northward through Saturday.

SEAWATER VISIBILITY:

Seawater visibility was 8 to 10 feet at the Diablo Canyon Intake.

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24-Hour Ocean Condition Outlook for Wednesday 02/02 to Thursday 02/03

Swell           DIR. NW      HT.   3-5    PER. 11-13  This morning
Remaining  at:  DIR. NW      HT.   3-5    PER. 11-13  This afternoon
Increasing to:  DIR. W       HT.   4-6    PER. 18-20  Tonight

WINDS:          DIR. NE      SPEED 15-20 + 35         This morning
Decreasing to:  DIR. N       SPEED 10-15              This afternoon
Remaining  at:  DIR. N       SPEED 10-15              Tonight
===========================================================================
48-Hour Ocean Condition Outlook for Thursday 02/03 to Friday 02/04

Swell           DIR. W       HT.   5-7    PER. 14-18  Thursday morning
Remaining  at:  DIR. W       HT.   5-7    PER. 14-17  Thursday afternoon
Remaining  at:  DIR. W       HT.   5-7    PER. 14-17  Thursday night

WINDS:          DIR. NE      SPEED 10-15              Thursday morning
Increasing to:  DIR. NW      SPEED 10-15 + 20         Thursday afternoon
Decreasing to:  DIR. NE      SPEED 10-15              Thursday night
===========================================================================
Extended Ocean Condition Outlook:

Looking at today’s charts and models it’s difficult to imagine any type of precipitation over the next 7 to 10 days. However, a few the longer-range models are indicating rain by mid February.

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The 24 – Hour Ocean Data From The Diablo Canyon Wave rider Buoy
MONTH  DAY  TIME  SIG.HEIGHT   PERIOD   SWELL DIRECTION     SST
01    25    0543     5.1       14            267          53.4
01    26    0413     4.4       13            268          53.4
01    27    0513     6.7       15            268          53.6
01    28    0713     5.1       13            267          57.0
01    29    1543     4.9       12            267          56.3
01    30    1713    11.0       14            257          55.6
01    31    0343    10.2       12            274          54.5
02    01    0713     6.3       12            271          54.0
02    02    0443     4.5       12            279          53.6

(cm) (sec)  22+   20    17    15    13     11    9    7
———————————————————————–
01 25  0543  156   13     3    20   101   378   536   249    61  127
01 26  0413  133   13     3    24    26   135   373   203   103  116
01 27  0513  205   15     6    43   247  1263   537   159   136  120
01 28  0713  156   13     2     6    30   343   541   217    89   33
01 29  1543  150   11     3     3    11    98   374   470   137  227
01 30  1713  336   13     9   185   329  1453  1749  1230   876  660
01 31  0343  312   11     6    24   223  1039  1292  1763   697  445
02 01  0713  191    7     2     3    21   188   225   369   430  416
02 02  0443  136   11     1     3     5    46   181   290   236  154

Daily Swell Inspection Program

NAME                      DAY   TIME    HEIGHT   PERIOD     SST
(PST)   (FEET)  (SECONDS) (DEG. F)

# 166  Ocean Station Papa       2    0402      12       12       42.8
# 06   SE Papa                  2    0450       9       13       52.2
# 59   California Buoy          2    0450       6       14       55.6
# 01   Point Reyes Waverider    2    0446       6       13       51.6
# 15   Monterey Waverider Buoy  2    0450       5       11       54.3
# 28   Cape San Martin, Ca      2    0450       6        8       54.7
# 50   DCPP Waverider Buoy, Ca  2    0443       5       12       53.6
# 63   Harvest Buoy             2    0420       7       12       55.4
# 01   NW Hawaii                2    0450       8       11       74.8

* Note: Height (significant swell height) is the average height of the waves in the top third of the wave record. Maximum wave height may be up to TWICE the height in the data shown in the above table.

Precipitation at the Diablo Canyon Ocean Lab.

Monday     1500 through Tuesday    1500   0.00 inches
Tuesday    1500 through Wednesday  1500   0.00 inches

Precipitation this rain season (July 1 – June 30): 17.67 inches
Average season rainfall at DIP to date:            12.98 inches

Ocean Lab Barometer:   30.19 in or 1022.2 mb  +1.1 mb (Rising)

Sunrise and Sunset

Today’s         Sunrise 7:01 AM      Sunset 5:32  PM
Tomorrow’s      Sunrise 7:01 AM      Sunset 5:33  PM

Tides:
Low Tide                 High Tide
AM          PM           AM          PM
2 Wednesday   3:00  2.1    4:03 -0.6    9:00 5.8   10:33  4.2
3 Thursday    3:38  2.0    4:31 -0.3    9:36 5.6   11:00  4.3
4 Friday      4:16  1.9    4:58  0.0   10:11 5.3   11:26  4.4
5 Saturday    4:56  1.8    5:23  0.4   10:46 4.9   11:52  4.5
6 Sunday      5:38  1.8    5:48  0.8   11:24 4.4   —–  —
7 Monday      6:26  1.7    6:12  1.2   12:20 4.6   12:06  3.9
8 Tuesday     7:23  1.7    6:37  1.7   12:51 4.6   12:58  3.4
9 Wednesday   8:34  1.6    7:03  2.1    1:27 4.6    2:14  2.9
10 Thursday    9:58  1.4    7:36  2.5    2:11 4.7    4:19  2.7
11 Friday     11:16  1.0    8:46  2.7    3:07 4.8    6:31  2.8
12 Saturday  (12:16  0.5)  10:28  2.9    4:10 5.0    7:26  3.1
13 Sunday     (1:02  0.0)  11:46  2.7    5:13 5.3    7:57  3.4
14 Monday     —–  —    1:42 -0.5    6:09 5.6    8:24  3.7
15 Tuesday    12:46  2.4    2:19 -0.8    7:00 6.0    8:52  4.0
=========================================================================
This day in weather history

1952 –  The only tropical storm of record to hit the U.S. in February moved out of the Gulf of Mexico and across southern Florida. It produced 60 mph winds, and two to four inches of rain.

1988 –  A dying low pressure system over southern California deluged the San Diego coastal mountains with more than four inches of rain . Arctic air invading the north central U.S. sent the mercury plunging to 38 degrees below zero at Park Rapids MN.

2004 –  A vigorous cold front passed over the Diablo Canyon area this afternoon at 2:45 with heavy rain and thunderstorms. A cold upper atmospheric low pressure center, the driving force behind this storm, will produce scattered rain showers tonight through Tuesday evening and will lower snow levels to 3,000 feet.  Expect between 1.5 to 2.0 total inches of precipitation from this system.

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This weather forecast is a service provided by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to our energy customers. The forecast is valid only for the Diablo Canyon Power Plant coastline area (approximately a one-half mile radius surrounding the plant). Some of the information in this forecast is provided by Pacific Weather Analysis, with their permission.

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