This past week a couple of coworkers and I took a flight with the Coast Guard Auxiliary to become more familiar with the local area, in particular the coastline. From Monterey we headed south to Morro Bay, then up the coast to Point Arena, before stopping in Santa Rosa for food and fuel. From there we continued south to San Pablo Bay and east along the Delta, before returning south to Monterey.
GPS track of the route
It was a good chance to get a feel for the local terrain, especially areas that aren't easily reached or are hard to see well from the ground. Unfortunately the somewhat hazy skies combined with the usual obscuration of airplane windows made for somewhat poor quality photos.
Lover's Point in Pacific Grove
Worsening haze in the afternoon
The journey's conclusion. Start with part one.
From Stockholm we flew to Poland, the last country on our list. Renting a car, we drove south to Kraków. The second largest city in the country, and for a long time its capital, the city is a center of culture. In addition to the city itself, we went the Wieliczka salt mine, a huge mine started in the 13th century with many intricate carvings created over the years.
Market square in Krakow
Wieliczka salt mine
We continued west to Katowice, an industrial city in Upper Silesia. More than the other cities we visited, Katowice had much evidence of its recent Soviet past.
Internet cafe in one of the many courtyards in central Katowice
The rynek, or market square, in Katowice
With a detour through the countryside, and stop in the small village of Wojciechów, we headed to Warsaw, capital of Poland. Having been mostly destroyed during WWII, the city is a mix of Soviet era architecture, reconstructed older areas and a few spashes of modernity.
Presidential Palace in Warsaw
Palace on the Water
Chopin Museum
Palace of Culture and Science
Last month I took an extended vacation, exploring northern and central Europe. Having seen so many beautiful photographs of Scandinavia, I was very excited to have the chance to see it for myself. As it turned out, it reminded me of many the great things I liked about Alaska.
Boats in Oslo
The vacation began in Oslo. While adjusting to the time change, we took in many of the capital city's museums and atmosphere. Despite having two full days there, it felt like there was so much left to see. From Oslo, we took the Bergensbanen train west to Myrdal, changed to a train down the steep Flåmsdalen valley to Sognefjord, the largest fjord in Norway. We spent the night in Balestrand on the fjord, before continuing to Bergen. Unfortunately western Norway lived up to its rainy reputation, putting a damper on exploring the otherwise beautiful area.
Bergensbanen train in Finse
Fast ferry on the Sognefjord
From Bergen we flew to Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen is the capital, and by far the largest city in Denmark. On an inland much closer to Sweden than the mainland of the country, the mostly flat terrain leads it to be very walk- and bike-able. Most of the main streets through the downtown have bike lanes as large as vehicle lanes. Known for a design aesthetic, interesting architecture abounds from modern to medieval.
Nyhavn, Copenhagen
Our pre-planning only extended through Copenhagen, so it was last minute research of the area that led us to take a train across the relatively new border crossing Øresund Bridge to Sweden. There we spent two days seeing the sights of Stockholm. Similar to the other Nordic capitals, Stockholm is set on the water, with most of it's central area on an archipelago of fourteen islands. While similar in ways to it's Scandinavia neighbors, there is certainly a different feel to the culture.
Bridges in central Stockholm
Continued in
part two.
A hotel in Yountville
Last month I had the chance to take a couple of trips for work to the other end of our forecast area - Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties. Both provided the opportunity to meet our customers, as well as explore the area to better understand the weather hazards that can affect it. It's amazing the variety and beauty of our relatively small area of forecast responsibility.
Old Faithful Geyser in Calistoga
- posted September 29, 2011
Just two weeks after having returned from vacation on the East Coast, I ended up going to NOAA headquarters just outside Washington, DC for work. While the summer heat was still horrendous, it was a great experience. I had a little bit of time towards the end of the week to explore a bit, seeing some of the sights I didn't have time for on my previous visit.
Neoclassical buildings in Federal Triangle
Last month the Oakland A's played interleague games in a couple of new cities, so I took a week off work to see them play in a couple of new places. I flew into New York City, spending a couple of days exploring, mostly in Manhattan. The A's played the Mets at Citi Field, the new ballpark in Flushing Meadows. The game was somewhat lightly attended, likely due to rain right before, as well as the Mets slide in the standings.
8th Avenue in Manhattan
Midtown from Roosevelt Island
From New York I took the train to Philadelphia, meeting up with a friend from California. We took time to see the major sights, including Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. The city is more spread out than NYC and has less big name places, so unfortunately less was seen. We attended two games at Citizens Bank Park, another relatively new stadium, designed by the same architectural firm as Citi Field. The fans were very nice, and at least a few knew of the A's history in Philadelphia.
Independence Hall, under construction
A's and Phillies
As my friend headed home, I took advantage of my remaining day off to visit Washington, DC. With lots to see, I quickly ran out of time, flying back the next day. Overall the trip was a lot of fun, but the weather did mar the experience with warm temps, high humidity, and occasional strong rain showers.
The Capitol from Pennsylvania Avenue
Falling snow at 19th and Taraval, San Francisco (photo by Warholian)
Last night, just before midnight, snow was reported falling in San Francisco. Snow was reported at 500 ft in Merced Heights, just blocks from where I used to live on the west side of the city, along 19th Avenue at just 300 ft, and it was sticking on metal surfaces on Twin Peaks. It's a very unusual event, with the last measurable snow having occurred in 1976. With the way the forecast was reported in the news, to some it was a disappointment, as the snow was not widespread and did not make it all the way down to sea level. Still, any snow at all falling within the city limits is an unusual event.
2 – 3 feet of water at SFSU on Feb. 25, 2004
Interestingly, seven years ago to the day, San Francisco had another unusual precipitation event. On February 25, 2004, a winter storm front brought a very intense convective storm across Daly City and southwestern San Francisco. Analysis indicated that more than an inch and a half fell in 30 minutes, with a measured intensity of 0.42 inches in just five minutes. It's a bit of a statistical artifact as the records don't go back much more than a century, but such rainfall rates are considered a 10,000 year storm.
At San Francisco State University, where I was in class as the storm passed directly overhead, there was two to three feet of water just outside the building. Water cascaded down internal and external staircases. Much of the campus is built in a gully, formerly part of Lake Merced, and the water swiftly flowed down the hill along its former drainage path. Water flooded an electrical room knocking out power to at least three buildings, and damage was estimated at approximately $8 million. Further south in Daly City, water rose up enough in low lying neighborhoods to lift cars and transport them down the street. At least 40 homes had significant damage. It was quite an impressive storm, and even more so because it happened in an area that typically does not have such intense rainfall events.
Flood water cascading down the steps of Thornton Hall at SFSU
Image courtesy of Dept. of Geosciences, SFSU
Back to the recent weather, more snow has fallen today in the southern reaches of the Bay Area as cold temperatures linger. Wet snow and graupel fell in Monterey and Carmel overnight. Reports have come in today of snowfall in Gilroy, Hollister, Prunedale and even Carmel-by-the-Sea. After another cold night, temperatures will warm up to more seasonable temperatures and skies will be mostly sunny.
One of a number of simultaneous sessions
Last month I had the pleasure of attending the American Meteorological Society annual meeting in Seattle. It has been some time since I have been able to go to a conference of this size. It's really a neat experience to be surrounded by thousands of other meteorologists and those with interest in the field. I presented a poster on my graduate research in storm surge, and got good feedback and interest in future work from those that stopped to chat. I was able to stay for the whole week, and saw a number of interesting talks and posters, talk with other meteorologists old and new, and having a little time off to spend in Seattle wasn't so bad either.
Archive:
Main page feed
