The Annular Solar Eclipse of May 20

My grandchildren really enjoyed viewing the first solar eclipse of 2012 today. Christy fashioned the viewing devices for them out of mailing tubes. And of course our family always enjoys special music all occasions and today we started with Ring of Fire and Total Eclipse of the Heart!
The first solar eclipse of 2012 occurs at the Moon's descending node in central Taurus.

Two solar and two lunar eclipses will occur in 2012..
2012 May 20: Annular Solar Eclipse
2012 Jun 04: Partial Lunar Eclipse
2012 Nov 13: Total Solar Eclipse
2012 Nov 28: Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

Rain & Hail & Funnel Clouds in May

Virtually everyone is talking about this crazy weather we are having...and even more rain is predicted for the next couple of days. According to the Sacramento Bee, late-season stormy weather dropped 10 to 14 inches of snow in the high country forcing a delay in the Amgen California Tour scheduled to start today In Lake Tahoe.

God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise

Folks venturing near the Riverwalk were greeted by high-waters that engulfed the entire park up to the grand staircase. According to the Mayor Cabaldon's Facebook post "That's a design feature, not a problem, but not the best day for frisbee". Thanks Tamara Carr for sharing this photo of the day.

Sunday morning sunrise

Beautiful colors show the rain yet to come last weekend...now we are on our way back to summer temperatures. Sacramento weather always is full of surprises this time of year! Thank you Dana Leach for sharing this beautiful photo.

More Rain and Rainbows

Thank you Rosanna Ullrich for sharing this photo of the georgeous rainbow we had overhead last Wednesday after yet another spring rain storm.....what interesting weather we have been having! We can hardly wait to see what next week will bring!

April Showers--hail showers??

If April shower brings May flowers what does hail bring? This storm literally came from out of the blue!! The sky opened up to deliver a horrific downpour of hail and rain yesterday just as school was letting out. Most kids only had sweaters or sweatshirts and were drenched.

Joan's Rainbow

Thank you Joan Barber for sharing great shot. Joan said "This beautiful rainbow was taken from my car window at the intersection of Marshall and Otis on Friday evening, right after the storm passed over. It was so breathtaking I had to pull over and take a picture."

Friends in Cold Places: Lancaster PA

Our cousin retired from Sac State and moved to Lancaster, PA to be closer to their kids...now instead of mowing and weeding they are shoveling and snow-blowing.

Bricks and Hail in West Sacramento

Pea-sized pieces of hail hit our area on January 19 and Debbie got this great shot of the hail collecting in her flowerbed.....

We've Got Friends in Cold Places!

Top photo is Sue's patio in New Mexico and lower photo is Pam's backyard in Oklahoma, both beautifully covered in snow. I wonder how much their heating bill is...ours is higher than I ever imagined this year!

A Break in the storm coming soon

Thank you Florene for sharing this beautiful photo of a rainbow during a break in the storm last week. Hopefully we'll be seeing some sun on Wednesday!

A Californian's Christmas in Minnesota

Joan Barber sends these photos from icy Minnesota. Joan said "as a West Sacramento resident the first thing I thought this morning when they announced it was minus 17 degrees was ...."What the heck am I doing here?" :)

Back to California on Monday thank goodness!!

"Batten Down the Hatches" ~ first storm of the season!

Downed trees, branches and even a street light in our neighborhood. News reports said several folks in West Sacramento had trees hit their houses in this first storm of the season.....lucky for the folks on this corner, the street light fell away from their house!

Heat and Smoke Emergency: 5:00 PM in the Valley

Thick smoke continues to hangs over the Sacramento area as forest fires burn throughout Northern California. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a prepared statement "I urge all Californians to take proper health precautions as the temperatures rise into the 90s and 100s across the state -– drink plenty of water and check on your neighbors who may be more vulnerable."

Trivia: I have lived in Sacramento for over 50 years and have never seen or smelled anything like this air....everyone I talk to is feeling depressed about the air quality both outside and inside their homes. A friend told me that when he was in China the air was this bad everywhere due to the pollution from burning coal to fuel their power plants. ~Barbara

Red Sun from smoke and particulates

Fires burning throughout Northern and Central California continue to blow smoke into the Sacramento region. The fire situation in California remains critical where 32 fires have burned 271,576 acres.

The weather-folks say the smoke will continue to hang over us through the weekend.... but, with luck a breeze may bring some relief to the unhealthy air we are breathing. ~Barbara

These warnings come from the Sac Metro Air Quality Management District:

• Everyone should avoid outdoor activities if you can see or smell smoke, even if you’re healthy
• Children, the elderly and people with respiratory or heart conditions should be particularly careful to avoid exposure
• Stay indoors with doors and windows closed as much as possible
• Asthmatics should follow their asthma management plan
• Contact your doctor if you have symptoms of cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms you believe to be caused by smoke
• Those with heart disease should especially limit their smoke exposure since PM can cause heart attacks