End of weekend sun is back

WEATHER TIDBITS

The three day weekend has come and gone and of course the sun has

returned.

Last week’s rainmaker became this week’s blizzard maker, one of

the top three snowstorms in modern history.

Once that low exited our area it drifted northeast toward the

Continental Divide, still a relatively warm storm (even Flagstaff,

Ariz., elevation 7,800 feet, got rain, not snow).

Then it came in contact with a deep Polar air mass from the north

and that’s when all hell broke loose.

Our town got a nice light to moderate soaking (2 inches over 3

days). The foothills and mountains got up to 7 to 10 inches of rain,

creating a real mess.

Laguna’s season total now stands at about 7.5 inches, just a half

inch or so now below seasonal norms.

Mt. Wilson took top honors with nearly 11 inches of rain over the

three day period, or just 1.5 inches shy of what we get in a whole

season.

We were lucky to get what we did, only because the rain source

sneaked in from the opposite direction, as nothing from the north is

making it down here. And now there’s another huge cloud mass off

North Baja right where the last one was. We’ll have to see what

happens with that one.

The first tornado of 2003 touched down in northern Florida Sunday,

making it the latest in the year the first tornado has been recorded.

The previous record was Feb. 2, 1986.

After a record warm January, February has been right on seasonal

norms.

Ocean temps are two degrees above normal at 59 degrees.

We’ve gained exactly one hour on our sunset. 5:40 p.m. tonight

(Tuesday).

Due to last weeks’ southerly swells, sand levels are at summer

levels at our local beaches -- covering the bottom eight steps at St.

Ann’s Beach.

And that’s it for this week.

* DENNIS McTIGHE is a Laguna Beach resident. He earned a

bachelor’s degree in Earth Sciences from UCSD and was a USAF

weatherman at Hickman AFB, Hawaii.