2018 - Robert's botantical adventures in Northern California

[Robert]

It was a beautiful day in the Sierra Nevada today. During much of the day, high clouds moved through the region. In the morning the winds were calm, however the wind quickly increased in velocity throughout the morning and afternoon. I clocked some gusts at 15 mph, however there were certainly stronger gusts during the day.



Well, I was off on my weather forecast. Once the upstream airflow got the cutoff low moving, it started to move quickly toward California. With the approaching low came a strong SW onshore flow and cool air.

This is a break down of the results from some of my WX sites:

Placerville
Yesterday                  Today                        Difference
High: 94 F, 34.4 C      High: 83 F, 28.3 C      -11 F, -6.1 C

Riverton
High: 90 F, 32.2 C      High: 85 F, 29.4 C      -5 F, -2.8 C

Peavine Ridge
High: 87 F, 30.6 C      High: 84 F, 28.9 C      -3 F, -1.7 C

Lyons Creek
High: 76 F, 24.4 C      High: 73 F, 22.8 C      -3 F, -1.7 C

At the higher elevations, I did not do that bad with the temperature forecast. As for the lower elevations, well, I need to sharpen my pencil!   



At the higher elevations many deciduous species are turning color. Thickets of Prunus emarginata are bright gold now.



In some locations there are large blocks of Bracken Fern, Pteridium aquilinium ssp. pubescens that carpet the forest floor. Right now they are bright yellowish gold and contrast well with anything that is still green.



The large bold leaves of Rubus parviflorus have turned gold too.

[Robert]

Symphoricarpos mollis creeps over the ground in shady locations. The leaves are yellowish now. After the leaves drop the pure white fruit will stand out.

This evening I had a QSO with my WX and ham radio friends at Lake No 3. Much higher in the Crystal Range the autumn colors are reported to be spectacular. Sheets of Vaccinium cespitosum have turned brilliant orange-scarlet and contrast beautifully with Phyllodoce breweri. The sunset this evening was reported to be gorgeous! I am envious! The upper level winds have also increased. At least there are good camping sites out of the wind.



This is a nice peaceful scene of Wilson Meadow.

Now that the weather is on the move, it appears the next few days will be even cooler than today. The NE Pacific GEOS West water vapor satellite image now shows an impressive flow of cold moist air directed toward California. The forecast now looks good for rain by Sunday night – Monday. Conditions are very dry and rain will be welcome.

My next chance to get out will be on Sunday. After that ? Sadly, my 93-year old mother is having great difficulties as her life nears its end. Considering the situation, it may be many weeks until I can get out for an all day outing.

[Maggi Young]

Sad news about your Mother, Robert - I know other members have also recently lost a parent and  it is never easy. Our thoughts are with you and your family.

[hamparstum]

Robert, I'm very sorry to hear about your mother's failing health. My prayers for all members of the family in these very hard transition times. Kindly, Arturo

[Robert]

Maggi, Arturo

It has been a long haul.

Between my mother-in-law, father, and now my mother, my wife, brother, and I have been care giving for over a decade. We are exhausted! As my wife says, we feel like we could sleep for several years when it is all over.

Thank you for your kind thoughts, and understanding. As you say, we are not the only ones that go through such difficulties. In the end we too will get through this.

Thank you again for your kind thoughts and prayers. 

[Robert]

We had our first significant rainfall of the season a few days ago (3 and 4 October 2018). There was not much precipitation at our Sacramento home, however the Sierra Nevada received much more precipitation. The storm was very mild, with very high snow levels. The temperatures at out Sacramento home:

4 October 2018
Sacramento
23 feet, 7 meters
High: 75 F, 23.9 C
Low: 62 F, 16.7 C
Precipitation: 0.06 inches, 1.5 mm

This photograph was taken in Eldorado National Forest a few days before the storm arrived.



This is a nice view of the distance peaks south of the Crystal Range. The peaks are all of volcanic composition in this area.

>The distant peak to the far left is Elephants Back.
>Two peaks to the right of Elephants Back are some pointed peaks.
>The rounded peak to their right is Round Top Peak.

Placerville weather:

4 October 2018
Placerville
1460 feet, 445 meters
High: 64 F, 17.8 C
Low: 57 F, 13.9 C
Precipitation: 0.28 inches, 7.1 mm



A nice scene of autumn color on Spiraea splendens in the Lyons Creek Basin a few days before the storm arrived.

Weather for Riverton:

4 October 2018
Riverton
3,625 feet, 1,105 meters
High: 63 F, 17.2 C
Low: 55 F, 12.8 C
Precipitation: 1.15 inches, 29.2 mm

As one can notice, there was much more precipitation in the mountains.



I had a few hours out on 4 October 2018. It rained on and off all day. I was at least able to get the new data recorders set and in place despite the rain.

Weather for Peavine Ridge:

4 October 2018
Peavine Ridge
5,146 feet, 1,569 meters
High: 53 F, 11.7 C
Low: 48 F, 8.9 C
Precipitation: 1.25 inches, 31.8 mm



This is another view near Gerle Creek. The cloud ceiling can be seen at the trees on top of the ridge.

Weather for Gerle Creek:

4 October 2018
Gerle Creek
5,525 feet, 1,684 meters
High: 66 F, 18.9 C, High for 3 October
Low: 47 F, 8.3 C
Precipitation: 0.72, mm, by 8:00 a.m.

[Robert]

This is a scene of the storm clouds over the Crystal Basin.



It was rainy in the Lyons Creek Basin, 6,622 feet, 2,108 meters.

Lyons Creek Basin weather:

4 October 2018
Lyons Creek Basin
6,622 feet, 2,018 meters
High: 56 F, 13.3 C, High for 3 October
Low: 43 F, 6.1 C
Precipitation: 0.96 inches, 24.4 mm, as of 9:00 a.m.



Sheep Sorrel, Rumex acetosella, is an invasive species. It most likely arrived in the early 1850-60’s with the introduction of domestic grazing animals. The species is very common in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada.



Eriogonum marifolium is one of a number of native Buckwheat species in this area.



Eriogonum incanum is also native in this area. The two species can often be seen growing side-by-side in this area. Occasionally, natural hybrids between the two species occur. The frequency of natural hybridization between the two species varies by region. I see many more hybrids in the Upper Bassi region of the Crystal Range. This is a very interesting phenomenon.

[Robert]

Wolf Lichen, Letharia vulpina, is very showy this time of year.



There was a very short pause in the rain at Wrights Lake.



Vaccinium uliginosum ssp. occidentale is seen frequently around Wrights Lake. This species can have striking crimson to orange-crimson autumn leave color. They were starting to turn on 4 October. With cold weather they will be brightly colored in just a few days.



The cloud deck quickly lowered at Wrights Lake and the rain returned. I was hoping to see some new snow on the highest peaks. Not on this day! 

[Robert]

Empirical / Ecosystem modeling has become quite the hobby for me. It has considerable relevance in our garden.

My wife tells me that I keep detailed lists of almost everything, plants, lichens, insects and spiders, butterflies, animals, birds, weather, and more. This is true even for our Sacramento neighborhood. It is not hard for me to use my imagination to create an Empirical / Ecosystem model of our Sacramento neighborhood based on the lists. It is also not hard to imagine the discords in an urban – suburban ecosystem, however there are encouraging success stories.

This year my wife and I planted the very common annual, Tithonia rotundifolia, to attract wildlife to our garden. This simple addition, including many supporting plant species, created a satisfactory environment that attracted many of the species we were hoping to attract.

Grass Skippers as well as many other butterflies (and other insects) found a sanctuary in our garden. The Tithonia acted as a beacon attracting many butterflies to our garden (picture).



Fiery Skippers, Hylephila phyleus, was one of several Grass Skipper species attracted to our garden (pictured). Woodland Skippers, Ochlodes sylvanoides, was another Grass Skipper attracted by the Tithonia.



The great event and success for the season was the arrival of Gulf Fritillaries, Agraulis vanillae, to our garden. The range of this beautiful butterfly has been expanding northward along the coast of California. Now they have arrived in the southern portion of the Sacramento Valley and our Sacramento garden.



The upper surface of its wing is just as beautiful as the lower surface. Hover Flies, Wasps, and a number of Bee species have also been attracted to our garden by the Tithonia. The season is not over yet. We will see whom else shows up. 

[Gerdk]

Robert,
I don`t know what to admire more - the Tithonia or the butterflies!

Gerd

[Robert]

Wednesday, 10 October 2018

A weak storm slid down into eastern California and western Nevada on the northwestern upper airflow.



To the west, there were clear skies over the Central Valley of California, however over the higher ground of the Sierra Nevada there was instability with convective cloudiness.



This view of the Crystal Range was taken at 1:30 in the afternoon. Within one-half hour the convective clouds built into dark skies with light rain. By 2:30 p.m. the storm had intensified. Small hail, 2-3 mm dia., fell with the intensifying rain.



The gates on the check dam at Wright Lake were pulled last week and water began to flow again in the South Fork of Silver Creek.



In this down stream view one can see that there is not much of a stream flow, on average 4 cm depth where the water is actually flowing. This is similar to the reading last week before the rain started. I did get a good measurement of the water pH, 6.0 to 6.5. I skipped the water temperature. This would have been interesting reading.

[Robert]

Water began flowing again in Lyons Creek, 2.5 cm depth where the water was flowing. I am not sure what accounts for the restored stream flow. It may have been the rain last week, or that the gates were pulled on Lyons Lake, maybe both. There was a considerable amount of rainfall last week in this area. The pH of the water was 6.0 to 6.5.

Some of the rainfall totals from last week:

Lyons Creek Basin: 1.71 inches, 43.4 mm
Peavine Ridge: 1.41 inches, 35.8 mm
Riverton: 1.23 inches, 31.2 mm
Placerville farm: 0.28 inches, 7.1 mm
Sacramento home: 0.06 inches, 1.5 mm

[Robert]

Robert,
I don`t know what to admire more - the Tithonia or the butterflies!

Gerd

Gerd,

I have been following your postings of autumn blooming Narcissus. They are very fascinating. I wish that I was up to speed on the topic and could offer intelligent questions on the subject. It will be a number of years before I see flowers on any of the small seedlings I have coming along of these interesting autumn blooming species. Thank you for sharing the photographs and the information.

Any good fortune or news regarding Viola pluviae?

[Gerdk]

Gerd,
I have been following your postings of autumn blooming Narcissus. They are very fascinating. I wish that I was up to speed on the topic and could offer intelligent questions on the subject. It will be a number of years before I see flowers on any of the small seedlings I have coming along of these interesting autumn blooming species. Thank you for sharing the photographs and the information.

Any good fortune or news regarding Viola pluviae?

Thank you Robert! Concerning the violet I'll send a pm.

Gerd

[Robert]

Friday, 12 October 2018

I had a few hours in the mountains today. The weather was pleasant, autumn-like.



The skies were clear and it was breezy. At one of my favorite sites near Gerle Creek I have a number of data loggers.

Weather 2:00 p.m. 12 October:
High: 62 F, 16.7 C
Low: 46 F, 7.8 C
Wind: East 6G13 mph



It is a shame I do not have time to look around. Many interesting plant species grow on this ridge.



Autumn is slowly arriving. The California Black Oaks, Quercus kelloggii, are starting to turn color.



Another scene with Quercus kelloggii framed with Pinus jeffreyi in the background and Arctostaphylos patula in the foreground.