Category Archives: weather

Heavy Weather

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Doc Searls

Most of California has just two seasons: rain and fire. Rain is another name for Winter, and it peaks in January. In most years, January in California isn’t any more wet than, say, New York, Miami or Chicago. But every few years … Continue reading →

Posted in data, Nature, Santa Barbara, weather | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

When a thunderstorm appears right on top of an airport

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Doc Searls

This is the situation at Newark Airport right now: Those blobs are thunderstorms. The little racetrack in upstate New York is an inbound flight from Lisbon in a holding pattern. Follow the link under that screen shot. Interesting to see, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Geography, weather | Leave a comment

Geology answers for Montecito and Santa Barbara

Posted on January 27, 2018 by Doc Searls

Just before it started, the geology meeting at the Santa Barbara Central Library on Thursday looked like this from the front of the room (where I also tweeted the same pano): Our speakers were geology professor Ed Keller of UCSB and … Continue reading →

Posted in Future, Geography, Geology, history, infrastructure, Nature, Photography, Places, Research, Santa Barbara, Science, ThomasFire, weather, wildfire | 17 Comments

Geology questions for Montecito and Santa Barbara

Posted on January 25, 2018 by Doc Searls

This post continues the inquiry I started with Making sense of what happened to Montecito. That post got a record number of reads for this blog, and 57 comments as well. I expect to learn more at the community meeting … Continue reading →

Posted in infrastructure, News, Research, Technology, ThomasFire, weather, wildfire | 2 Comments

Making sense of what happened to Montecito

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Doc Searls

Montecito is now a quarry with houses in it: So far twenty dead have been removed. It will take much more time to remove twenty thousand dump truck loads of what geologists call “debris,” just to get down to where … Continue reading →

Posted in fire, Geography, Geology, infrastructure, Journalism, Links, News, Places, Politics, problems, Technology, weather, wildfire | Tagged , , , , | 61 Comments

An evacuated view on the #ThomasFire

Posted on December 13, 2017 by Doc Searls

Here’s the latest satellite fire detection data, restricted to just the last twelve hours of the Thomas Fire, mapped on Google Earth Pro:That’s labeled 1830 Mountain Standard Time (MST), or 5:30pm Pacific, about half an hour ago as I write … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadcasting, data, Family, Geography, Life, Photography, problems, ThomasFire, Travel, tv, weather, wildfire | Leave a comment

Bad and dead air

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Doc Searls

That was yesterday. Hard to tell from just looking at it, but that’s a 180° shot, panning from east to west across California’s South Coast, most of which is masked by smoke from the Thomas Fire. We weren’t in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadcasting, california, Geography, Health, infrastructure, radio, Santa Barbara, Technology, weather | Tagged | 7 Comments

Heavy (but brief) weather

Posted on July 1, 2017 by Doc Searls

Here’s what flying in and out of Newark looks like right now: That storm is very heavy, but narrow. It’s going to wash over New York like a big wave. Hat tip to Flightaware.

Posted in Aviation, Travel, weather | Leave a comment

Dig the Aurora

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Doc Searls

Here’s what the current geomagnetic storm looks like right now, data-wise: The visuals are in the sky, in the form of brilliant auroras, visible all over Canada and as far south as Michigan. The near-full moon doesn’t help, but the … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, weather | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Fun with tropo

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Doc Searls

Right now every FM and TV station in Santa Barbara and San Diego can be heard in both places. Between them lays more than 200 miles of ocean across a curved earth. I’m not there right now, but I see … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadcasting, Business, Geography, infrastructure, North Carolina, radio, Research, weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment