Summer returns, tropical storms brew and fizzle and a new job looms

No fishing this evening.  The front passed through this morning, wetting the streets with heavy drizzle that quickly vanished with sunrise.  In it’s wake, fresh northwest winds kicked in – not a good situation.  It’s supposed to return to smokin’ hot conditions over the hill for the rest of the week.  Even if the river cools down overnight, the wind will probably be ferocious tomorrow.

I often wonder if these tropical storms of the eastern Pacific that form this time of year ever make it up to northern California and produce significant rainfall.  Unlike the east coast where remnant hurricanes will occasionally barrel up to New England and wreak havoc – I’ve never seen or heard of such a scenario here on the west coast.  Any geologic or stratigraphic evidence of a large, early season mega-rainfall producer would be hard, if not impossible, to separate from other storms that come later in the year. I might have to one day take a look at some long running rainfall records and look for large rainfall events in August/September and try and track down their origins.

Regardless, this afternoon Julio was downgraded to a tropical depression and began to wash out sending some impressive looking thunderstorms into Arizona.  Today’s discussion indicated a long range chance of some thunderstorms moving up our way – but it’s a long way off – both in time and space – and likely won’t be anything organized for widespread, prolonged rainfall.  Oh well, time to enjoy some more summer tomatoes or run down to Arizona and chase flash floods.

The big news is that this is my last week at my current job.  I’ve been there for 10 years and it’s time to move on – moving all the way across the parking lot to a different building – and a new group of co-workers.  Of course, in my mind, the first order of business is to get a feel for how flexible I can make my schedule and still get away with it.  I’m told it’s very flexible – so we will see if afternoon river trips are still a viable option.  One of the benefits of a long time job is that you come to understand when you can and can’t bail out on short notice.  Hopefully I can figure this out quickly because it’s about that time.  Don’t get me wrong – I’m into my work – I just have competing priorities.