El Nino Watch Issued- What is El Nino?

Courtesy of the NWS

UPDATE 12/9/12: The NWS now forecasts only Neutral conditions

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association have gone into El Nino Watch, which means that El Nino Conditions are likely in the near future (this winter). El Nino is when the Pacific Ocean near South America is experiencing warmer than average temperatures, while La Nina is when the temperatures of the Pacific Ocean near South America are cooler than average.

Courtesy of the NWS

Well, you may ask, how do El Nino and La Nina affect SoCal?

During La Nina conditions, the the Pacific Northwest often receives a large amount of rainfall and cool temperatures during the winter, while SoCal usually stays dry (leads to drought when La Nina lingers for long periods of time).

During El Nino conditions, the southern part of the United States (including SoCal), receives above average amounts of rainfall with an increased probability of severe weather. This is because the Pacific Jet Stream hovers over the southern part of the United States (instead of being more variable) bringing more storms systems south to SoCal.

So this winter, if you live in SoCal, prepare for cooler temperatures and more rain, this winter.

Information retrieved from:
www.noaawatch.gov

Fire Near The Getty Center- 9/14/12

As of 5:20pm on 9/14/12 several wildfires have broken out in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Two of the three fires are small, one of which was a transformer fire on Mulholland Drive, and the other of which was most likely an arson fire on Coldwater Canyon Road.


The largest of the fires is currently spreading rapidly near the eastern side of the 405 freeway, and is located near the Bell Air Estates. The largest fire was reported at 3:36pm and is currently being fought using firefighting helicopters, and as of now, by "super scoopers." The fire is approximately 25 acres, but only voluntary evacuations have occurred.

The 405 freeway has just been closed off near Getty Center Drive and the Getty Center has closed early due to the fire. Traffic has been backed up all the way to the 90 freeway.

Temperatures are a searing 97 degrees in the area, and humidity is a mere 13%, but wind speeds are quite low, so the fire near the 405 will most likely not spread too far, and will be contained shortly.

Second Earthquake in Beverly Hills (Magnitude 3.4) - 9/7/12

Early this morning (3:09am), many people in Beverly Hills and throughout the "Westside" were jolted awake by a magnitude 3.4 earthquake (downgraded from 3.5). The earthquake was located most likely near or on the Santa Monica Thrust Fault (where the proposed westside subway extension will be built), in Beverly Hills. The earthquake had an intensity of IV, but was registered as intensity V on DYFI (Did you feel it). The earthquake was felt as a long-lasting jolt in my location in Del Rey (where in the world is that?).
 

My Recent Detections on QCN. The Highlighted Blue Detection is from the Earthquake.
 The Earthquake Number (Not Magnitude) Can be Seen on the Far Right.
The Earthquake Significance and Magnitude are Seen Toward the Left.

I am happy to say that my QCN Sensor did record the jolt. Please check my earlier post on the Quake-Catcher Network (August 2012) for more information on the network.

If you felt the earthquake, please provide the shaking strength in your location at:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/ci15211897#dyfi_form

3.2 Earthquake Beverly Hills, CA- 9/3/12

Last night at 3:26am, there was a magnitude 3.2 earthquake (Intensity IV) (downgraded from 3.3) in Beverly Hills, CA. The earthquake was most likely located on the Santa Monica Thrust Fault, and had a depth of 1.5 miles. The quake was felt throughout the "Westside" (not only SM. heh heh.) and woke many in the area.

If you felt the earthquake, please report the shaking in your location at:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/ci15210193#summary