Let’s get Oxnarded
Posted by Ryan
With the rain they saw in Oxnard on Tuesday, they received 10 times their monthly total. Of course, they average .01" in the month of May, so by many other people's standards, the rain wasn't too terribly heavy, but in Oxnard, it was quite a bit. Especially on the heels of last months .69" of rain. It's a veritable monsoon down there! The Weather Channel had the top forecast.
Actuals: Tuesday - .10 inches of rain, High 66, Low 53
Wednesday - High 63, Low 53
Grade: A
Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Oxnard, California
Posted by Ryan
No better way to start a week than by planning a road trip that covers the whole thing. It's going to be a 5 day trip headed out west covering 2703 miles. We'll get there at a clip of 65.8mph, which will be good for about 527 miles a day for the first 4 days. We have a bit of driving in our future, so lets be on our way!
DAY ONE
The first day of our trip looks like it will be the only truly unpleasant day of the trip. It will be dreary with rain for most of the day, though I wouldn't anticipate really heavy rain. It will be enough that the windows will likely need to be closed, but it shouldn't slow the trip. Our drive will end in Lisbon, Indiana, east of Indianapolis, with not much hope for seeing the sun on Tuesday.
DAY TWO
Upon waking up, it will still be a bit dreary in Indiana, and will be a little gray until we cross into Illinois, when things will rapidly clear up. Driving through Saint Louis will be a treat weatherwise, with sun shining and temperatures climbing. A warm front type system is going to be developing over southwestern Missouri, and we will run into some showers and storms around the Lebanon, Missouri area with about an hour left in the day. We'll end up in Halltown, just past Springfield.
DAY THREE
The little system in the central Plains will spin itself up in place, bringing heavy overnight rain to Missouri, including Halltown. Make sure everything is closed up tight overnight. When we leave Thursday morning, we will be engaged in the shower activity. We'll begin to clear out by the time we reach Tulsa, but the threat for some rain all the way to the Texas border will continue. Driving the the Panhandle, through Amarillo, however, it will get dusty and dry. The day will end about 20 miles from New Mexico, in Adrian, Texas.
DAY FOUR
The dry weather will continue through New Mexico and Arizona, as one would expect. It will be a bit cooler in the mountains, but the drive will be warm and sunswept. We'll end in Parks, Arizona, between Flagstaff and Williams.
DAY FIVE
No rain as we approach California, but a trough over the west will drive winds up, and we'll have to worry about some gusty conditions all the way from Needles to the Coast. Driving through the desert, it may get a little dusty if the wind picks up, but the rain they are seeing to day could keep it down a bit. I wouldn't count on it. We'll arrive on the coast with partly to mostly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 60s.
Oxnard, California
Posted by Ryan
Out west we go to Oxnard, which is along the coast north of Los Angeles, lying along the Pacific Ocean.
At 951AM, PT, Oxnard was reporting a temperature of 57 degrees with cloudy skies. A weak surface system was sweeping into the coast, bringing about it an onshore flow with clouds and drizzle covering most of the California coast. A simple pattern aloft was going to become more complicated over the next few days, to the benefit of Oxnard.
A seasonably strong jet streak lay along the coast and would curl inland to form a trough. Meanwhile, a secondary, undercutting trough is expected to rapidly develop over the Pacific Northwest, cutting off the instability and upper level support found further to the south, causing it to become short waved and rapidly advancing to the east. This will mean a more stable, quiet pattern in Oxnard after the dreary morning they are seeing today.
Tomorrow - Showers through the afternoon, High 66, Low 51
Wednesday - Sunny, High 66, Low 51
TWC: Tomorrow - A shower or two possible early with partly cloudy skies in the afternoon. High 63, Low 53
Wednesday - More sun than clouds. High 63, Low 52
AW: Tomorrow - Areas of drizzle in the morning; otherwise, mostly cloudy High 66, Low 52
Wednesday - Areas of low clouds early, then mostly sunny High 67, Low 52
NWS: Tomorrow - A 20 percent chance of showers before 11am. Mostly cloudy High 62, Low 52
Wednesday - Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, mostly sunny High 66, Low 49
WB: Tomorrow - Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers in the morning...becoming partly cloudy in the afternoon. High 63, Low 53
Wednesday - Mostly sunny except for patchy morning low clouds and fog. High 67, Low 50
A nice look at the satellite shows that in fact, it isn't always sunny in Southern California.
