Weather Spot

No it's not raining polka dots.

I have officially become a weather spotter. I am now part of the San Diego National Weather Service's team of weather buffs who report unusual and/or notable weather occurrences.

Now you may be asking what on earth someone with no formal education in the atmospheric sciences is doing assisting the weather service upon which you depend to make your weekend plans. Well, good as the guys at the NWS are, predicting the weather is not an exact science. True it is much better than it used to be, but most weather models predict the weather for large regions, not the microclimates that are unique to southern California. Few places in the country have as varied a climate as San Diego, from 110 deserts to 70 beaches ... all in the space of 60 miles.

The folks up in the Rancho Bernardo NWS offices need the weather spotting team to report significant events, particularly in the turbulent summer monsoon season when thunderstorms can cause very localized areas of severe weather. The NEXRAD Doppler radar in poway is an awesome piece of machinery, but it has difficulty observing conditions near our local mountains. When the weather turns ugly, the spotter network may be activated to report on significant conditions such as flash flooding, hail, winds, etc.

Yes, I am a huge weather geek. 'Nuf said.