“Big fires flare up in a wind, but little ones are blown out
unless they are carried in undercover.” ~ St. Frances De Sales

Blame it on the weather! This past week has been a wild, wet and windy one. It began on Friday night. Clouds moved in during the day, rather unremarkable in appearance, but they proved to be the opposite. Lghtning lit up the skies over the foothills. Claps of thunder immediately followed, reverberating through the valley. Our house includes a safe storm observation point: a covered porch!

Under the eaves, we – my husband, our dog Abby and I – gathered to watch the storm. So did a pack of coyotes that gathered across the street. Their unique yipping and howling seemed to be in response to the weather, but more likely hunger was the driving force. Coyotes are no strangers on our street.

Tetween our neighbors’ property and our own is a swath of naturally landscaped land. It’s an ideal hangout for local coyotes. Until now, they were solitary singletons.

Abby became bored with the storm and wandered over to this swath. The yipping grew louder and Doug went to investigate. There stood Abby in a face-to-face standoff; both parties were baring their teeth and growling. Another pack member had circled around, trapping our naïve Golden retriever in a no-escape position. Doug yelled loudly and the coyotes took off. The outcome was a good one. A word from the now wiser dog owners: “Big dogs and little dogs can fall prey to the whims of coyotes.”

Then came the rain. Totals varied across the region. La Crescenta received .35 inches. Following on its heels was the first significant Santa Ana winds of the season. Temperatures reached close to 90 degrees, humidity dropped to 15% and most notable was the strong winds. I measured 48 mph. Red Flag Warnings were in place. No records were broken; nevertheless, power outages and damage were experienced by many locals.

High pressure and weak offshore flow will keep high temperatures above normal through the week. The weekend remains warm as offshore winds blow. Monday is expected to be cooler with the arrival of a weak trough of low pressure.

The following are words from the NWS: “Chamber of Commerce day across Southern California with sunny skies and breezy conditions.”

Sue Kilpatrick is a Crescenta Valley resident and Official Skywarn Spotter for the National Weather Service. Reach her at suelkilpatrick@gmail.com.