Monday, February 5, 2024

[Dave]

Yesterday the weather conditions started building for our next, powerful storm: rain to start that afternoon and forecast to last until around noon on Wednesday (and possibly include brief thunderstorms). And that is for my area along the coast - other areas NW, north, and NE of me will have it worse. There are numerous mandatory evacuations, with destructive and life-threatening flooding quite possible in some unlucky areas.

{Edited to add]
And wind gusts have been incredibly high; the National Weather Service has reported maximum wind gusts in different areas of 90 mph, 98 mph, 99 mph and 102 mph. The NWS considers frequent wind gusts that exceed 58 mph pose "... an extreme threat to life and property..."

Scary conditions for those in areas that are hardest hit.

But the early morning build-up created an especially intense sunrise...

   

[Rich]

Beautiful Fire in the Sky Dave!
Stay safe, it looked like on our forecast that you will be getting some of that storm.

[Dreamin]

Dave, you have been in my thoughts with this storm....the news shows that it is really devastating....hope you and yours are all safe.......
What a gorgeous sky!! Beautiful capture.
Hi, Rich.....and everyone else who looks in....
Our weather has been typical for here, lows in the 30's F and highs in 50's. I can't wait til days are in the upper 60's.....that's just right for me.....not too hot, not too cold.

[Dave]

Hi Rich and Natalie.

Thanks for your concern. My area is in no danger of flooding. I'm couple of miles from the beach at an elevation of maybe 10 meters, so the heavy flooding at the coast doesn't reach me. And there are no higher elevations for miles, so flash flooding from above isn't an issue either. I do wonder if the saturated soil  could cause the huge Jacaranda tree in the front yard to come down on the house, but I believe that's unlikely to happen.

[Man From Ironbark]

What's your soil type Dave?
All trees eventually come down but many of them do live to very ripe old ages.

It is a glorious sunrise.

[Dave]

MFI,

I haven't had the soil analyzed but I've noted that:

1) The first 20 to 25 cm appears to be typical soil - not at all what would be considered loose.
2) Starting below this topsoil there is one with a high clay content in many areas of the front yard. I don't know how deep this layer is.

[Man From Ironbark]

Thanks Dave. It would appear that you haven't dug too many holes deeper than a foot.
Huge Jacaranda is something I've seen a lot of and I can assure you that this tree has long found a place to put stabilising roots and has a good hook into the subsoil moisture and nutrients.
Yes a prolonged inundation could easily kill or topple many species of trees. Strong winds easily snap and topple branches and whole trees..
Particularly near the coast and only at 10m elevation, there is always the risks from near coastal lows or full on hurricanes/cyclones/typhoons. The same thing with different names..
Then there's tsunami's that may land at or greater than 30m, let alone any smaller ones..
However, without a photo I'd have difficulty ascertaining any sort of age the tree may be. However, to me a large Jacaranda could easily have been there more than six decades, which is about how big they can get in the first sixty years. It may have been there for many more. All of which does reduce the chance of a catastrophic event having impacted this tree .. yet.

Though trees are the principle reason we evolved at all, part of this is that they do store and return the carbon in the cycle. Thus I've simply planted another when one falls.

[Luv2shoot]

Hey all, I have been busy doing nothing down here in Florida, including just staring at my neglected camera sitting in my new camera bag surrounded by all of its lenses. It has been too cold, wet and windy here to go walking around and taking photos. Maybe I will venture out today since tomorrow our company starts arriving and continues with us for the next 13 days!

Good to hear from Natalie. Thanks for stopping in.

Dave, I hope you pull through this weather attack unharmed. It sounds horrible. Wind can be so damaging and then all that rain. Mother Nature is trying to replenish your land following all of the drought you have experienced. Too bad that it is all at one time. The sky photo is amazing but also so threatening looking.

Peter, I hope your analysis of Dave’s tree is correct. I hate losing trees, it makes me so sad.

See you all later,
Lorell