Weather forecast for Monday February 7

February 7, 2011

SEA SWELL:

This morning’s 4 to 6-foot northwesterly (310-degree deep-water) swell (with an 8- to 12-second period) will become a 3 to -5-foot northwesterly sea and swell (with a 5- to 17-second
period) this afternoon.

Strong to gale force northwesterly winds along the entire coastline of California will generate an 8 to 10-foot northwesterly (310-degree deep-water) sea and swell (with a 6 to 15-second period) along the Central Coast on Tuesday, decreasing to 6 to 8-feet on Wednesday.

A 3 to 5-foot west-northwesterly (285-degree deep-water) swell (with an 8 to 15-second period) is forecast along our coast Thursday, decreasing to 2 to 4-feet on Friday and remaining at this height and period through Sunday morning.

A 4 to 6-foot northwesterly (310-degree deep-water) sea and swell (with a 5 to 14-second period) is forecast along our coastline on Sunday afternoon through next Monday.

A medium-energy northwesterly swell is scheduled to arrive along the Central Coast on February 15.

PG&E San Francisco Met Office predicted temps:

Inland Temperatures, Paso Robles

Actual                    Predicted

Sun          Mon         Tue         Wed         Thu         Fri         Sat         Sun         Mon
39-73     39-70    40-70    35-66     34-66    33-68   31-69   34-63     36-64

Coastal Valleys Temperatures, San Luis Obispo

Sun          Mon         Tue         Wed         Thu         Fri         Sat         Sun         Mon
50-77    46-74     40-71    36-68     34-69    34-67   37-68   41-63     41-66

ATMOSPHERIC CONDITION:

Fair skies and mild temperatures will continue this afternoon with temperatures reaching the 70s throughout San Luis Obispo County.

A cold front will move southward along the California/Nevada state line later today, which will set up steep onshore pressure gradient along the coastline.

Fresh to strong (19 to 31 mph) northwesterly winds will develop this afternoon, increasing to strong to gale force (25 to 38 mph) levels on Tuesday. These onshore winds will produce cooler temperatures and will allow the marine layer to redevelop along the coastline on Tuesday morning.

Another round of northeasterly (offshore) winds will give clear skies on Wednesday through Friday. However,  a cooler air mass behind this cold front will keep temperatures just below seasonal norms. Overnight temperatures in the North County may reach below freezing levels.

The strong high pressure ridge responsible for the dry weather during the first part of February will gradually weaken and migrate westward late this week. At this time it looks like our dry weather pattern could change by next week, with rain developing over the Central Coast as early as next Tuesday and Wednesday.

DIABLO CANYON AIR TEMPERATURES:

Diablo Canyon Meteorological Tower Air Temperature Data

Yesterday’s          Today’s          Tomorrow’s
Min    Max        Min    Max         Min     Max
N/A     N/A       54.9°   70.0°      53.0     59.0

WINDS:

Fresh to strong (19 to 31 mph) northwesterly winds will develop this afternoon, increasing to strong to gale force (25 to 38 mph) levels on Tuesday.

Another round of gusty northeasterly (offshore) winds will develop on Wednesday into Thursday, shifting out of the north on Friday.

Moderate to fresh (13 and 24 mph) northwesterly winds are forecast on Saturday, shifting out the northeast next Monday.

Increasing southerly winds are forecast next Tuesday and Wednesday.

DIABLO CANYON METEOROLOGICAL TOWER WIND DATA:

Today’s winds:

Max peak winds:      NE       15.9 mph at   9:45 a.m.
Max sustained wind:  NE       11.2 mph at   9:45 a.m.

Yesterday’s Maximum Winds:

Max peak winds:      N/A
Max sustained wind:  N/A

SEAWATER TEMPERATURES:

The Diablo Canyon waverider buoy is reporting a sea surface temperature of 55.9 degrees while the Nortek AWAC current meter is reporting 54.3 degrees.

Intake seawater temperatures will range between 53 and 55 -degrees through today, decreasing to 52 and 54-degrees on Tuesday through Friday.

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 today.

A southerly (offshore) flowing current is forecast along our coastline on Tuesday through Friday.

SEAWATER VISIBILITY:

Seawater visibility was 9 to 11 feet at the Diablo Canyon Intake.

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24-Hour Ocean Condition Outlook for Monday 02/07 to Tuesday 02/08

Sea/Swell       DIR. NW      HT.   3-5    PER.  8-12  This morning
Remaining  at:  DIR. NW      HT.   3-5    PER.  5-17  This afternoon
Remaining  at:  DIR. NW      HT.   3-5    PER.  5-16  Tonight

WINDS:          DIR. NE      SPEED 10-15              This morning
Increasing to:  DIR. NW      SPEED 15-20 + 30         This afternoon
Increasing to:  DIR. NW      SPEED 20-25 + 35         Tonight
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48-Hour Ocean Condition Outlook for Tuesday 02/08 to Wednesday 02/09

Swell           DIR. WNW     HT.   6-8    PER.  5-15  Tuesday morning
Remaining  at:  DIR. WNW     HT.   8-10   PER.  6-15  Tuesday afternoon
Remaining  at:  DIR. WNW     HT.   8-10   PER.  7-14  Tuesday night

WINDS:          DIR. NW      SPEED 20-25 + 35         Tuesday morning
Increasing to:  DIR. NW      SPEED 25-30 + 40         Tuesday afternoon
Decreasing to:  DIR. NW      SPEED 20-25 + 30         Tuesday night
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Extended Ocean Condition Outlook:

The strong high pressure ridge responsible for the dry weather during the first part of February will gradually weaken and migrate westward late this week. At this time it looks like our dry weather pattern could change by next week, with rain developing over the Central Coast as early as next Tuesday and Wednesday.

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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    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
02    03    1313     7.2       15            254          56.1
02    04    1343     6.3       15            247          56.3
02    05    1543     6.7       13            264          57.6
02    06    0543     6.4       11            282          54.0
02    07    0743     4.3       11            279          55.9

(cm) (sec)  22+   20    17    15    13     11    9    7
———————————————————————–
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
02 03  1313  218   15     7    37   373  1185   760   296   106  122
02 04  1343  191   15     5    69   405   712   489   317   116  133
02 05  1543  203   13     1     4    10   232   778   494   535  265
02 06  0543  195    9     1     5    16   123   238   620   674  281
02 07  0743  132    9     1     5     4    37   151   272   279  163

Daily Swell Inspection Program

NAME                      DAY   TIME    HEIGHT   PERIOD     SST
(PST)   (FEET)  (SECONDS) (DEG. F)
# 166  Ocean Station Papa       7    0402       9        9       42.6
# 06   SE Papa                  7    0750       6       15       52.2
# 59   California Buoy          7    0750       7        7       55.4
# 01   Point Reyes Waverider    7    0746      10        8       51.6
# 15   Monterey Waverider Buoy  7    0750       6       10       53.8
# 28   Cape San Martin, Ca      7    0750       7        9       54.9
# 50   DCPP Waverider Buoy, Ca  7    0743       5       12       57.0
# 63   Harvest Buoy             7    0720       6       13       56.3
# 01   NW Hawaii                7    0750      18       15       74.3

* 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.

Friday     1500 through Saturday   1500   0.00 inches
Saturday   1500 through Sunday     1500   0.00 inches
Sunday     1500 through Monday     1500   0.00 inches

Precipitation this rain season (July 1 – June 30): 17.67 inches
Average season rainfall at DIP to date:            13.94 inches

Ocean Lab Barometer:   30.21 in/Hg or 1022.0 mb   0.0 mb (Steady)

Sunrise and Sunset

Today’s         Sunrise 6:57 AM      Sunset 5:37  PM
Tomorrow’s      Sunrise 6:56 AM      Sunset 5:38  PM

Tides:
Low Tide                 High Tide
AM          PM           AM          PM
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
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This day in weather history

1978 –  The worst winter storm of record struck coastal New England. The storm produced 27.5 inches of snow at Boston, and nearly 50 inches in northeastern Rhode Island. The
fourteen foot tide at Portland ME was probably the highest of the century. Winds gusted to 79 mph at Boston, and reached 92 mph at Chatham MA. (David Ludlum)

1989 –  Twenty-five cities in the western U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date. Lows of 16 at Las Vegas NV, 26 at Bakersfield CA, -29 degrees at Milford UT, and -16 degrees at Reno NV were February records. The low of 43 degrees below zero at Boca CA was a state record for the month of February.

In Utah, lows of -32 degrees at Bryce Canyon, -27 degrees at Delta, -29 degrees at Dugway, and -38 degrees at Vernal were all-time records for those locations. 626-457-4243

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SmartMeter workshop

The League of California Cities-Channel Counties Division, inconjunction with Pacific Gas and Electric Co., is hosting a workshop on the utility’s SmartMeter program from 3 to 5 p.m.
Tuesday at the South County Regional Center in Arroyo Grande.

The purpose of the meeting is to provide PG&E customers with an overview of the SmartMeter program and to explain how it affects the future of energy.

Experts will be on hand to answer questions on SmartMeter installation and operation.

This week’s Weather Watch Column (Cold front is the boundary of two air masses) for the San Luis Obispo Tribune along with other interesting stories and columns can be viewed at the
following web address: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/

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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