The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: Forecast

  • Rain Returns to Humboldt This Weekend

    Rain Returns to Humboldt This Weekend

    A moderate rainstorm will make its way through Humboldt County

    A storm is hitting Humboldt this weekend will bring a considerable amount of rain.

    Jonathan Garner, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Eureka, gave us a preview of what to expect.

    “All in all, maybe up to two inches of rain over the weekend,” Garner said. “I’m also expecting accumulated snow across the mountains for elevations mainly above 3500 feet. We could get a little bit of small hail and stronger showers and perhaps a thunderstorm as well.”

    The rain is mainly forecasted to fall on Saturday but will linger in showers on Sunday. Expect high temperatures to be in the low to mid 50s with lows in the lower 40s.

    “It will put a very small dent into our deficit. We’re about 10 or 11 inches below normal right now.”

    Jonathan Garner, meteorologist for National Weather Service in Eureka

    Garner said the storm won’t resolve our rain deficit for the year.

    “It will put a very small dent into our deficit,” he said. “We’re about 10 or 11 inches below normal right now.”

    Emily Read, a junior environmental studies major, is still around in Humboldt amidst the coronavirus outbreak. With the rain looming, she planned on not doing much this weekend beyond trying to learn a new program for an engineering class.

    “I typically am fine with rain,” Read said. “I like it most of the time—but right now, since we’re stuck at home anyway, I kind of just am tired of it and I just want it to stop raining so it can be nice and warm.”

    Jared English, a junior film major, also planned to remain indoors this weekend even though he was initially looking forward to getting outside and doing the one thing he can do in Manila—frisbee golf.

    “It does kind of make me a little sad,” English said. “Because that means even more time inside and even more time isolated in this quarantine, and the rainstorm kind of takes that one thing away.”

  • Sprinkles Expected for Spring Break

    Sprinkles Expected for Spring Break

    Rains look to rush in this upcoming weekend

    Cold clouds creep on the horizon, waiting for students to flee Arcata before dumping rain on the city. The days of sunny skies and warm weather may come to a damp halt at the beginning of spring break.

    Spring is here, and it’s wet. This coming weekend, rain is forecasted to fall on Humboldt State. Break is just around the corner and inclement weather may be a downer for partying students, so be sure to check the weather before the rager starts.

    This helpful graph, built by weatherspark.com, shows the average daily chance of rain in Arcata throughout the year. | Graph by Weatherspark

    To prepare for the break, The Lumberjack science section reached out to the National Oceanic and Aeronautic Administration office and asked a meteorologist what we can expect. It may get cold.

    According to Brad Charboneau, one of those NOAA meteorologists, we’ve still got a couple more cold months ahead of us. We’re not out of the chill yet, even though the spring season is when temperatures start warming up.

    “I check the weather often either with the NOAA weather app or by looking at the sky. If it looks questionable or if the sky is darker than usual, check it.”

    Mattea Roberts

    For curious weather geeks, the NOAA station uses a number of sensors and measuring devices to record weather events. For example, they use a tipping bucket rain gauge that measures hundredths of an inch. Each time the bucket fills, the bucket tips over and records a tic. The more tics, the more water. Easy as that.

    Mattea Roberts probably appreciates meteorological instruments like the tipping bucket. A freshman studio artist at HSU, Roberts takes advantage of NOAA science by using their weather app. She said it was a good idea to check the weather if the sky looked questionable.

    “I check the weather often either with the NOAA weather app or by looking at the sky,” Roberts said. “If it looks questionable or if the sky is darker than usual, check it.”

    Roberts also said she brings a rain jacket or an umbrella to school every day, just in case it does rain. She’s probably going to be prepared for whatever the climate has to throw at her this weekend.

    “I can tell you right now, it’s gonna be nice and warm up until Friday,” Charboneau said. “On Saturday, believe it or not, we’re gonna have a shift to cooler, more showery weather that will last through the weekend.”

    Charboneau said the rain isn’t going to be very intense from the perspective of the rivers, but the conditions may make the weekend less than ideal if students have outdoor plans.

    One of Charboneau’s colleagues, Meteorologist Ryan Alyward, explained how NOAA forecasts weather. He said as a meteorologist, his job is to pay attention to what’s going on in the sky and diagnose the conditions. Understanding what’s happening now allows him to make a prognosis of what weather conditions will be.

    Using a program he called Ensemble, meteorologists input real-time data and get a large number of weather predictions. The predictions are future weather patterns that may or may not happen, and it is his job to use these to make a forecast of the weather. The trick is to look at the similarities in each model, because together, those similarities make the most likely prediction.

    The current models, beyond the wet weather forecasted in Arcata, include snow in the mountains east of the city. Charboneau said although snow is more common in January and February, it’s not unheard-of in March.

    “We’re looking for the potential of snow—low-level snow—which will impact the passes going east,” Charboneau said. “It is likely to see some snow over the weekend. Those are the main threats over the weekend.”