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It’s All Good So Far in Todos Santos

You know what – this storm should be kicking us but it isn’t – I don’t know why but at 9:14 pm MDT we have winds and some rain but no killer storm. Jimena seems to have weakened and must have moved even further to the west. Todos Santos is okay as of this hour. Let’s thanks our angels that protect us — once again we have dodged a terrible storm or so it seems.

Surf and Weather in Todos Santos!

Well, there isn’t much surf. Hasn’t been much all late fall and early winter. No one is stoked. When a little swell comes, everyone scurries to the beach for waves that would have been totally boring 2 years ago. Some people don’t expect much this season. They talk of La Nina and note the great swells up in California to our north. Those swells just aren’t reaching us. A friend of mine is ready to blame global warming for changing the long term ocean currents and affecting the powerful ground swells we typically see here in the winter. I suppose we will find out as time goes by.

On a lighter note, the weather today was beautiful! After nearly a week of cloudy grey mornings (can you hear all the solar system home owners moaning?) today was clear blue skies with sun! Last night it was 55F in my trailer, the coldest yet of this winter. I know it doesn’t sound like much but on the beach with the wind blowing and the ocean moisture, 55F is cold! And it has been consistently windy too.

Incredible Todos Santos Weather!

On Wednesday, September 10, 2008, Tropical Depression Lowell made landfall north of Todos Santos. Wednesday morning, temps at dawn were around 80-82F. On Thursday morning they were about the same. But by Friday morning something miraculous had occurred – night time temps dropped 10 degrees F to about 73F. Daytime temps moderated also. Saturday morning it got down to 70F. I had to turn off my fan in the early a.m. hours Saturday. Sunday morning it dipped to 69F – absolutely amazing!!!

Our summer started about a month earlier this year than normal. Is it possible it will end a month early?

I like to gamble, but I won’t take that bet…

Enjoy the crisp non-humid weather while we have it. No telling how long it will last.

Mexico’s “New Look” Postal Service

Anyone who lives in Mexico knows how bad the postal service can be. In Todos Santos, it’s not unusual to never receive bank statements and other bills that should come in the mail. Today, a big change was announced for the service. You can read all about it on Yahoo news:

Mexico’s “New Look” Postal Service

Galeria de Todos Santos Move Underway

The Galeria de Todos Santos has been closed the last couple of weeks while Michael and Erick work feverishly to fix up the new location (the old Maya Roca real estate building.) The building was in need of serious cleaning, remodeling and updating. Michael plans to continue his public cooking career and is fixing up the back patios and yard to serve as a restaurant. Those of us in the neighborhood can hardly wait!

Prepping the New Galeria de Todos Santos

These are two of the most talented painters in Todos Santos. I ask you, is this the best use of their talents? <g>

What's under this old sign?

La Voz del Pueblo!

We think “La Voz del Pueblo” was a general store at this location. I know it sounds like a newspaper or magazine. Maybe we should have called El Calendario something like “La Voz de Todos Santos!”

Getting There! White Walls!

The backyard and patio - future home of the restaurant!

Happy Labor Day to all of you up north! No such celebration here.

Tropical Storm Julio and Todos Santos

Just a quick update – Julio was perplexing. Looking at the storm path maps it appears he passed right over Todos Santos, yet we never got anything close to 50 mph winds. My best guess is we got 35 mph gusts and maybe an inch of rain. We still have clouds and it rained once already this morning so we could get more but nothing like the 3-6 inches the forecasters called for.

My electricity stayed on the entire night. Cell phones and land lines and internet all work. Aside from large amounts of water on the roads and some plant debris, Todos Santos escaped unharmed.

And so our dangerous time for hurricanes begins.

Ain’t No Cure For The Summertime Blues (Todos Santos Style)!

It just started thundering. Big time! It’s dark. Maybe it will rain yet again. There are no tropical storms in the East Pacific, so this is just regular old thunderstorms for a change. It’s 3 pm MDT.

The heat continues. The breeze comes and goes. Mostly goes. At least it shifted back from the north. It had been a west-south-west wind for a while. And that’s a warm wind that brings even warmer water up towards us, inviting tropical storms to visit. Night time lows are right around 80f but it takes all night to get there. Midnight temps are routinely 85f. That’s sweating hot.

One of the plagues that arrive with temps this warm and rain is the onset of “bo-bos” AKA noseeums, sandflies and more properly, biting midges. These are nearly invisible little flies that bite. They mostly appear near dawn and sunset but they can be present anytime. Their life cycle is 3-10 weeks. Adults are 1.5 – 4 mm long. Once they arrive, they stay for up to 3 months depending on how hot it is. Around town you will see little old ladies waving strips of cloth in front of their faces to keep the bo-bos off. The critters like to fly up noses, in eyes and ears. They are very annoying. And their bites are not to be ignored. They itch and can welt up too.

Right now they aren’t nearly as bad in Todos Santos as they are in Pescadero and points south. This is due to the additional rainfall that has fallen to the south of us. The wetter and the hotter it is, the more bo-bos we have. And they can fly right through most window screens. That’s how small they are! Repellent helps a bit but nothing gets rid of them totally except colder, drier weather.

Biting Midge or Bobo

Todos Santos Weather – Say It Ain’t So!

Yep, I am going to lament the weather yet again. Nothing imminent but not too far south of us is a disturbed area with potential for tropical development – it is called Invest 93. If it should turn into a storm, it looks nearly certain to affect us here in Southern Baja. It really is way too early in the season for this sort of thing to be forming. The following images are from wunderground.com:

Possible Tropical Weather Affecting Baja Sur, Mexico

Possible Tropical Weather Affecting Baja Sur, Mexico

July 31st – Raining in Todos Santos

Yep, it’s raining again – time is 12 noon. The sky is very grey and it looks like it could rain all day. Probably won’t but you never know. This makes the second solid summer rain so far. I can remember summers when it didn’t rain at all until September.

Wonder how this will affect the 1st Todos Santos Mango Festival? Things will be muddy at the very least.