Wish Upon a Rainbow– Winter makes a brief visit

  • Cristal Vivirito caught a perfect rainbow arched over Falcon Way near Frazier Mountain High School at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 23 when winter came by with a wet gift for the Mountain Communities, and then blew away.

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    Cristal Vivirito caught a perfect rainbow arched over Falcon Way near Frazier Mountain High School at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 23 when winter came by with a wet gift for the Mountain Communities, and then blew away.

  • Michelle Maga took this photo of a rainbow over Cuddy Valley when winter stopped by for a brief visit January 23.

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    Michelle Maga took this photo of a rainbow over Cuddy Valley when winter stopped by for a brief visit January 23.

  • Meanwhile, at 6,000 feet in Pine Mountain, about two inches of snow fell in two hours. It lasted just an hour before a warmer rain blew through to wash much of it away. [Hedlund photo]

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    Meanwhile, at 6,000 feet in Pine Mountain, about two inches of snow fell in two hours. It lasted just an hour before a warmer rain blew through to wash much of it away. [Hedlund photo]

  • Dawn Jenkins snapped this beauty the same day, Monday, Jan. 23, over Piñon Pines.

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    Dawn Jenkins snapped this beauty the same day, Monday, Jan. 23, over Piñon Pines.

Cristal Vivirito discovered a perfect rainbow near Frazier Mountain High School (see pg. 1) at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 23.

At 11:40 a.m. High Country Gardener columnist Michelle Maga wrote: “Here is a lovely way to begin a Monday morning. I snapped this photo a few minutes ago over Cuddy Valley. My wish upon this rainbow is a month or more of rainy days with many more visions such as this to greet me in the morning!”

An hour later, a wet wind in Pine Mountain turned into a storm that dropped two inches of snow at 6,000 feet in a couple of hours. It stuck to the roads for an hour, then rain—yes more rain—washed some of it away.

“After almost two months of mostly dry weather over California, a dynamic, high pressure ridge broke down…,” reported the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). This allowed the jet stream to bring several storms into the state.

Heavy rain began in Northern California with over 6 inches falling in 24 hours in Del Norte and Humboldt counties. It began to move southward and heavy snow fell in California’s mountains (up to 6 feet at the highest elevations).

“The storm track moving over the state broke the long, dry spell with some impressive 7-day totals for the week: 8 to 11 inches of rain along the coastal region, 2 to 4 inches of rain in the Central Valley, 1 to 2 inches of rain in Southern California,” NASS said.

And that was just by Monday. Maga’s wish upon a rainbow may still be granted. —Patric Hedlund

This is part of the January 27, 2012 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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