Weather forecast for Tuesday February 8

February 8, 2011

By JOHN LINDSEY from PG&E

SEA SWELL:

Strong to gale force northwesterly winds along the entire coastline of California will contiue to produce an 8 to 10-foot northwesterly (310-degree deep-water) sea and swell (with a
6 to 14-second period) along the Central Coast today, decreasing to 6 to 8-feet on Wednesday.

A 3 to 5-foot west-northwesterly (285-degree deep-water) swell (with an 8 to 17-second period) is forecast along our coastline Thursday, decreasing to 2 to 4-feet on Friday.

This 2 to 4-foot west-northwesterly (285-degree deep-water) swell (with an 11 to 14-second period) will remain at this height and period through Saturday.

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, becoming a 3 to 5-foot northwesterly swell
(with an 11 to 13-second period) on Monday.

Increasing southerly seas will develop on next Tuesday, followed by a medium-energy northwesterly swell on February 16.

PG&E San Francisco Met Office predicted temps:

Inland Temperatures, Paso Robles

Actual                    Predicted

Mon          Tue         Wed         Thu          Fri         Sat         Sun         Mon         Tue
35-76     39-61     30-62      27-66    29-71   30-71   31-66     35-65     40-62

Coastal Valleys Temperatures, San Luis Obispo

Mon          Tue         Wed         Thu         Fri          Sat         Sun          Mon         Tue
43-74     47-65    40-68    37-72     38-76   40-72   41-66     40-67      41-66

ATMOSPHERIC CONDITION:

Last night’s marine layer was quickly mixed out by this morning’s strong to gale force (25 to 38 mph) northwesterly winds. By the way, these onshore winds produced warmer overnight low temperatures with most locations reporting morning lows in the 40 and 50s. However, this afternoon’s high temperatures will be between 10 and 15 degrees cooler than yesterday’s.

Another round of northeasterly (offshore) winds will give clear skies on Wednesday through Friday. Overnight temperatures in the North County will reach below freezing levels.

Temperatures by Friday should be warmer and mild again, but not as warm as last weekend’s with temperatures remaining in the 60s and 70s.

Increasing northwesterly (onshore) winds over the weekend will allow the marine layer to redevelop along the coastal areas during the night and morning hours.

A major change in the weather pattern will develop next week.

The strong high pressure ridge responsible for the dry weather during the first part of February will gradually weaken and migrate westward. It looks like our dry weather pattern will change next Tuesday into next Wednesday. Increasing southerly winds should develop late Monday with rain reaching the Central Coast on Tuesday as a vigorous cold front passes our area. Rain will turn to showers next Wednesday with heavy snow in the Sierra. At this time, rainfall totals should range between 0.75 and 1.25 inches.

Another storm may follow by the end of next week as the storm door should be wide open after a generally long dry spell for most of January and early February.

DIABLO CANYON AIR TEMPERATURES:

Diablo Canyon Meteorological Tower Air Temperature Data

Yesterday’s         Today’s          Tomorrow’s
Min    Max        Min    Max         Min     Max
54.9°  71.2°      49.8°   59.0°      54.0     62.0

WINDS:

Today’s strong to gale force (25 to 38 mph) with gust to 45 mph northwesterly winds will continue through this evening.

Another round of gusty northeasterly (offshore) winds will develop on Wednesday.

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

Moderate to fresh (13 and 24 mph) northwesterly winds are forecast on Saturday afternoon through Sunday.

Increasing southerly winds are forecast on Monday through next Wednesday.

DIABLO CANYON METEOROLOGICAL TOWER WIND DATA:

Today’s winds:

Max peak winds:      NNW      37.1 mph at   7:30 a.m.
Max sustained wind:  NNW      20.6 mph at   7:15 a.m.

Yesterday’s Maximum Winds:

Max peak winds:      NW       29.8 mph at   6:00 a.m.
Max sustained wind:  NW       20.4 mph at   6:00 a.m.

SEAWATER TEMPERATURES:

The Diablo Canyon waverider buoy is reporting a sea surface temperature of 59.4 degrees while the Nortek AWAC current meter is reporting 53.3 degrees.

Intake seawater temperatures will range between 52 and 54-degrees through Friday.

OCEAN CURRENTS:

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

This southerly (offshore) flowing current will continue to flow southward through Friday.

SEAWATER VISIBILITY:

Seawater visibility was 6 to 8 feet at the Diablo Canyon Intake.

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24-Hour Ocean Condition Outlook for Tuesday 02/08 to Wednesday 02/09

Sea/Swell       DIR. NW      HT.   8-10   PER.  5-14  This morning
Remaining  at:  DIR. NW      HT.   8-10   PER.  6-14  This afternoon
Remaining  at:  DIR. NW      HT.   8-10   PER.  7-14  Tonight

WINDS:          DIR. NW      SPEED 20-25 + 35         This morning
Increasing to:  DIR. NW      SPEED 25-30 + 45         This afternoon
Decreasing to:  DIR. NNE     SPEED 20-25 + 30         Tonight
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48-Hour Ocean Condition Outlook for Wednesday 02/09 to Thursday 02/10

Sea/Swell       DIR. NW      HT.   7-9   PER.   7-13  Tuesday morning
Decreasing to:  DIR. NW      HT.   6-8   PER.   8-12  Tuesday afternoon
Decreasing to:  DIR. NW      HT.   5-7   PER.   9-11  Tuesday night

WINDS:          DIR. NE      SPEED 15-20 + 30         Tuesday morning
Decreasing to:  DIR. N       SPEED  5-10              Tuesday afternoon
Increasing to:  DIR. NE      SPEED 10-15              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. It looks like our dry weather pattern will
change next Tuesday into next Wednesday. Increasing southerly winds should develop late Monday with rain reaching the Central Coast on Tuesday as a vigorous cold front passes our area. Rain will turn to showers next Wednesday with heavy snow in the Sierra. At this time, rainfall totals should range between 0.75 and 1.25 inches.

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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
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
02    08    0543     8.0       11            288          59.4

(cm) (sec)  22+   20    17    15    13     11    9    7
———————————————————————–
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
02 08  0543  245   11     3    22   128   148   396  1668   641  388

Daily Swell Inspection Program

NAME                      DAY   TIME    HEIGHT   PERIOD     SST
(PST)   (FEET)  (SECONDS) (DEG. F)
# 166  Ocean Station Papa       8    0402      14       11       42.6
# 06   SE Papa                  8    0750       4       11       52.2
# 59   California Buoy          8    0750       9        8       55.2
# 01   Point Reyes Waverider    8    0746      16       11       51.3
# 15   Monterey Waverider Buoy  8    0750       9       12       53.6
# 28   Cape San Martin, Ca      8    0750      17       11       54.1
# 50   DCPP Waverider Buoy, Ca  8    0743       8       11       59.4
# 63   Harvest Buoy             8    0720      12       10       55.6
# 01   NW Hawaii                8    0750      13       14       74.7

* 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.

Sunday     1500 through Monday     1500   0.00 inches
Monday     1500 through Tuesday    1500   0.00 inches

Precipitation this rain season (July 1 – June 30): 17.67 inches
Average season rainfall at DIP to date:            14.14 inches

Ocean Lab Barometer:   29.97 in/Hg or 1014.8 mb  0.0 mb (Steady)

Sunrise and Sunset

Today’s         Sunrise 6:56 AM      Sunset 5:38  PM
Tomorrow’s      Sunrise 6:55 AM      Sunset 5:39  PM

Tides:
Low Tide                 High Tide
AM          PM           AM          PM
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
16 Wednesday   1:39  2.0    2:55 -1.0    7:49 6.2    9:22  4.3
17 Thursday    2:30  1.6    3:31 -1.0    8:37 6.2    9:53  4.7
18 Friday      3:20  1.2    4:06 -0.8    9:25 6.1   10:27  5.1
19 Saturday    4:12  0.8    4:42 -0.4   10:15 5.7   11:03  5.4
20 Sunday      5:07  0.5    5:19  0.2   11:08 5.1   11:43  5.6
21 Monday      6:06  0.4    5:58  0.8   —– —   12:07  4.5
22 Tuesday     7:13  0.4    6:40  1.5   12:26 5.7    1:17  3.8
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This day in weather history

1835 – A severe cold wave gripped the southeastern U.S. The mercury dipped to 8 above at Jacksonville FL, and to zero at Savannah GA. Orange trees were killed to the roots. (David Ludlum)

1989 – A winter storm over California produced snow from the beaches of Malibu to the desert canyons around Palm Springs, and the snow created mammoth traffic jams in the Los Angeles Basin. Sixteen cities in the western U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date. Marysville CA reported an all-time record low reading of 21 degrees above zero. (Storm Data)

2006 – Gentle northeasterly (offshore) winds combined with strong high pressure has produced clear skies, very dry conditions and record warm temperatures along our coastline. The temperature at the Diablo Canyon meteorological tower reached 86.8 degrees this afternoon which is a record for this date  along our coastline. The record high for
this date in San Luis Obispo was 87.0 degrees back in 1954.

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SmartMeter workshop

The League of California Cities-Channel Counties Division, in conjunction 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 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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about this forecast please E-mail John Lindsey at jcl5@pge.com or contact by phone at 546-5265. For more information visit, www.pge.com.