Welcome to the club! No one wants to pay Edison several hundred a month just to live comfortably.

Yet we are, as those Malibu folks called us, “desert people,” so we must deal with the heat.

Well FiscalGeek.com shows you how to cool your abode on the cheap using reliable technology and an even more precious resource than electricity: water.

Yes I’m talking about an old fashioned swamp cooler:

Essentially what we’ll be doing is using the power of evaporative cooling and a fan to bring down the temperature in your room. In this case we’ll be using ice water stored in a cooler that will then cycle through a copper loop in front of a box fan. I’ll leave it to you to head to wikipedia to read up on how the process works, it’s not unlike you sweating to cool down. Myself I’ve done enough sweating so I’ll let the air conditioner do it for me.

It looks like the parts will cost you about $35-$40 but it’s pretty effective. Here’s what you’ll get when you’re finished:

I’m tempted to try it but it’s too hot to even drive to Home Depot and get the copper tubing at this point so I’ll just sit here and suffer until after dark.

Please report in if you’ve tried this in the past or post your general tips and tricks to keep cool during hot days!

It has now been one week AES-SCV (after epic snowstorm scv). Expect me to mark the anniversary often with shots like this.

Yesterday’s snowfall may have a sequel. The National Weather Service says more snow is “likely” for the Santa Clarita Valley today before 4pm:

AN UPPER LEVEL LOW CURRENTLY JUST NORTH OF VENTURA COUNTY EARLY
THIS MORNING WILL DRIFT EASTWARD ACROSS CALIFORNIA THIS
MORNING...REACHING THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN THIS AFTERNOON. THIS
SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO BRING SHOWERS TO LOS ANGELES AND VENTURA
COUNTIES TODAY...WITH SHOWERS DECREASING THIS AFTERNOON. SNOW
LEVELS WILL GENERALLY BE BETWEEN 2000 AND 2500 FEET...WITH LOCAL
SNOW LEVELS AS LOW AS 1500 FEET ACROSS THE SANTA CLARITA VALLEY

Even amateur meteorlogists are excited. Some guy who runs the “Southern California Weather Authority,” has changed his “Winter Weather Advisory” to a “Snow Advisory” for the Santa Clarita Valley:

“I feel the area will have the same dynamics for heavier snowfall on Monday morning”, said Southern California Weather Authority Meteorologist Kevin Martin. “This area will continue to have a northeast flow at the surface and it is quite possible that with the next impulse coming in we will see heavy snowfall, accumulating at the low elevations to three to even four inches in some spots.”

Martin says that this is the first time in the history of the SCWXA he had to issue a full Snow Advisory for the Santa Clarita Valley.

So it’s possible the fun we had yesterday afternoon is set to continue. I reached out to the City of Santa Clarita to see what their plan for dealing with any possible snow and accumulation was. Here’s what Gail Ortiz told me:

City crews are out clearing streets and will do so in the early morning hours in preparation for morning commuters. We have blade trucks and will use sand bags as needed. We are asking people to be extra careful driving especially if temps go below freezing and we have ice on the roads. We are also clearing Metrolink platforms at our 3 city stations in anticipation of more people using the train. Be safe!

But let’s get back to the fun part of all this snowfall. Here’s some more pictures sent to SCVTalk.com overnight. Enjoy!

Also, SCVTV has a great snow report here.

Have a great day and drive safe!

Incredible pic from Stevenson Ranch via Tootsie. Thanks!

I was skeptical, but I, along with a hundred Twitter friends of mine, can confirm that big, glorious, unique snowflakes are falling on the SCV this afternoon.

Not just in the mountains around Acton or in the Newhall pass. No. On the valley floor in the heart of the SCV.

Thanks to reader Kevin for the video below:

It’s even starting to stick to roofs and bushes:

It’s not hard to understand why. You can almost smell the snow outside. It’s bitterly cold for a January afternoon in Santa Clarita. The various weather stations uploading to Wunderground.com agree:

What about your neighborhood? Is it snowing there? Report in at once, or email me your pictures! jeff at scvtalk.com

Happy New Year everyone!

Wow. I was so excited about the snow I didn’t even notice both NickelDime and Tim Myers have already posted. Way to be on the ball guys!

More from George:

It’s really sticking! If this keeps up, kids will be building snow dolls (not enough for full blown snow men yet)

Susan checks in from Saugus:

Love the child’s expression in this video from Renee. “It’s like a Miracle!” It is indeed!

Epic failure for my satellite TV service. Is this really all it takes to disrupt satellite communications?

Angry kitty doesn’t like the snow. Time for a sweater!

Devin in Plum Canyon has a veritable winter wonderland!

Best picture yet! An authentic SCV Snow Doll! Congrats to the Lesh family. They used towels to catch the snow and construct the doll.

From ReaderMama’s family, a shot of Valencia fairways as the sun goes down on our long, cold wintery-day:

There’s enough snow on this reader’s Canyon Country deck to make a weapon out of it!

Update 4:24pm

After a break in the snow for about an hour, it’s now starting to fall again, only this time there is no rain and the flakes are big, heavy and wet. It appears to be sticking. If this keeps up we could wake up to the biggest snow day in the SCV since the late 1980s.

Update 5:05 PM

This stuff is really starting to stick. If the roads aren’t snow covered, they’re very slushy. The white stuff is accumulating everywhere! Be careful out there. Here’s some pics from my pre-sundown walk around near Lyons & Apple Streets:

A picture of a bike trail from reader Sean:

Kids across the SCV must be loving it. What a way to end their holiday breaks!

Lori from the “bowels of Newhall” shares this crazy pics of the accumulation on the roads

Cheryl gets some from Newhall with the Christmas lights in the background!

Playtime for the kids of the SCV!

This is Santa Clarita, not Nome Alaska. Incredible!

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service says the temperature in the SCV will only top out around 43 degrees, with the wind chill knocking that down to about 27 degrees.

It’s enough to make me almost wish for the hot Santa Ana winds to come in from the high desert. If it’s got to be windy, it might as well be a warm wind rather than something from the arctic.

YouTuber JC Megabyte must have thought the same thing because he headed out to see the clouds from another vantage point: above them.

I don’t know how the rest of the SCV feels, but if we have 85 degree days for the rest of August, that’s fine by me.

Of course, August/September/October are known for more than just high heat. This time of the year is also known for high winds, and of course, extreme fire danger. The excitement on Sunday was nothing compared to what we witnessed three years ago during a brutal spell of high temps and strong Santa Anas. Sterling King’s videos from the Buckweed and Stevenson Ranch fires serve as a reminder of how bad and scary things can get:

Here’s hoping we have more of the former and less of the latter in Fall 2010.

Those of you who have read this blog for years know that one of my favorite things to do is bitch about summer time heat waves. And so the tradition continues today with this warning from the National Weather Service:

… Excessive heat warning in effect from 11 am this morning to
9 PM PDT Friday…
… Excessive heat watch in effect from Saturday morning through
Saturday evening…

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard has issued an
excessive heat warning for the San Fernando and Santa Clarita
valleys… and the Santa Monica Mountains. This warning is in
effect from 11 am this morning to 9 PM PDT Friday. An excessive
heat watch has also been issued… and is in effect from Saturday
morning through Saturday evening.

* Temperature: heat index readings… a measure of the level of
discomfort caused by the combination of heat and humidity…
will rise to between 105 and 110 degrees during the late
morning through early evening hours each day.

* Impacts: heat stroke… heat exhaustion… heat cramps and
sunburn could be possible.

Precautionary/preparedness actions…

An excessive heat warning means that a prolonged period of
dangerously hot temperatures will occur. The combination of hot
temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a dangerous
situation in which heat illnesses are likely. Drink plenty of
fluids… stay in an air-conditioned room… stay out of the sun…
and check up on relatives and neighbors. Never ever leave
children… the elderly or pets in enclosed automobiles… even for
a short period of time. Even if the windows are partially open…
temperatures can quickly rise to life threatening levels.

Good lord. It’s only 9:45 am and it’s already 95 out according to Weather Underground, which is about 10 degrees higher than where I like the thermometer to be. When we start talking about 105 to 110, well, I kind of lose my mind and ponder abandoning my home and all who I love and driving as fast as possible to the beach. At temperatures beyond 110 (as happened in 2007, I think, when Saugus hit an unholy 116), I typically get into my bathing suit, hop in a bathtub of ice, point every available fan on the house at myself and imagine myself to be Edward Shackleton, famed explorer of the Antarctic.

Even my dog has problems with the heat. Every dog loves to go for walks, but my dog will literally refuse to walk for more than 10 minutes if the mercury is above 90. Sometimes he’ll just crash into the nearest shady spot on grass and refuse to budge, looking up at me as if I’m the one who put the heat on.

On really hot days like this, the normally wonderful SCV summertime evenings offer no relief. The pavement stays warm for most of the night, the air hangs hot and dry, and my normal heat-control protocols (box fan in windows come sundown) goes out the window and I have to run the A/C all night or I will get no sleep.

What do you do to stay cool on days like this?

ON THE WEB:

Weather Underground

SantaClaritaWeather.com

The clouds lingered a bit today, the breeze tempered an otherwise warm day… then at about 7:25pm PDT, this hit:

I haven’t lived in SCV long enough to get the proper local perspective, but as a native southern Californian, I can say the weather this year (and notably this season) has shown more surprises than usual.  If memory serves, it has been at least a decade or two since there were monsoon conditions in July.

Just when you thought the mild July 4 was in the rear view… so is this Spring’s last gasp, or just another 2010 abnormality?

I spotted these very early bloomers just yesterday:

and

With all the January rain, this is going to be a very green spring. Already the hills around town are bright, lush and thick. By next month, some of the cherry trees in Old Orchard should bloom, adding a dash of pink to the green landscape.

That usually lasts until May, when Santa Clarita resumes its normal golden-brown toasted hue. And, if we’re unlucky,  by August, September, and October all that spring growth is converted into ash and smoke and the great process birth/flaming death/rebirth completes another cycle.

Red is strongest

As usual, Weather Underground has the best animated doo-hickeys that help you track the storm’s progress.

There’s minor flooding here in Newhall. I can only imagine the Newhall creek, South Fork and Santa Clara must be raging now.