Storm # 10

1. The jet stream splits in two out at sea and is weak and brief just off the coast of California.

Storm number 10 approaches, appearing to be followed by 11 and 12. Maybe?? Pretty pleaseeee??
I don't know if the storm fronts out at sea are indeed headed this way and Storm 10 looks weak in the picture. There was another storm this year that did the same thing. It lined up flat against the California Coast, its cloud band exhibiting a swift, strong south-to-north pull. That storm, I think it was Storm #3, gave Fresno a few hours moderate rain, with briefly heavy rain. It was the best rainfall event of the year. This storm looks better. The forecasts are iffy, as recently as tonight going with "chance of rain", as if waiting to see if there will be sufficient strengthening to produce good precipitation. Interesting note: there's been some large cells out over the Mohave Desert all evening.
The Jet Stream, a concentrated band of upper level winds that runs between the ridges of high pressure that extend from the south and troughs of low pressure that extend from the north, is taking a wild path over the North America, going way up to Alaska, then plunging all the way down across Canada and into Florida. The Jet can vary in intensity, from being broad and swift to being thin and slow, and can also split up into many weak little strands sometimes.
One map I saw showed the jet running south to north over California, but I just located a current map of the Jet, and there is no continuous Jet Stream driving approaching storm, hence it doesn't have much support. However, a small one is present, and, who knows, it could suddenly intensify like that one storm did back in November, 1978. The storm my friend contended was part of a Hurricane. Hurricane my ass. Well, the southern moisture feed could have included remnant moisture of a hurricane, I suppose. Hmm, come to think of it, if there was an entire dying hurricane caught up in the southern feed... But that doesn't explain the two feet of snow at 7,000 feet in the Sierra. Anyway, that night, it just dumped.

Update 090121
Another dud?

Update 090122 ... I just heard rain outside...
Update 090122 - Dud barely averted.
I declare this storm not a dud, but just barely. Don't tell that to Southern California, who saw hardly a drop. We just had a good rainfall here in central, and Northern did somewhat better. The best of the year, for about 6 hours here in Central. But the real winner was the local mountains which scored a day of moderate to heavy-moderate snowfall. The radar doesn't pick up most of the mountain storm activity due to rugged terrain, but it does get into the some of the mountains thanks to the San Joaquin River Gorge.

Update 090123
Storm #10 is still here. It's been raining infrequently all day, but this still means snow is still being fed to the local mountains more than less continuously. The Jet Stream is still split in two out at sea, but the small patch over California at the beginning of this storm has expanded considerably. That may be what is keeping the 10th storm event alive. A side note, finally my native California seeds are sprouting - I planted them in i think around Thanksgiving?