edatoakrun
Well-known member
I live in North California, so the local news is of the most interest to me, but the (official here in CA, as of this AM) drought is covering a far larger region.
For the overall picture, the California Weather Blog entry of six days ago is a good place to start:
http://www.weatherwest.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Great map at that link shows the only region in CA with "normal" precipitation is the Southeast region, where ~"none" is the norm.
And while there are a few months of rainy season left, not many optimistic long-term forecasts to be found.
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_24929977/california-drought-three-more-months-dry-weather-likely" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
For the overall picture, the California Weather Blog entry of six days ago is a good place to start:
http://www.weatherwest.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Great map at that link shows the only region in CA with "normal" precipitation is the Southeast region, where ~"none" is the norm.
Just how bad is the current drought situation in California?
...Not only was 2013 the driest calendar year on record in California, but in some places 2013 eclipsed previous record minimum precipitation values by around 50%. Nearly the entire state is currently experiencing dryness that hasn’t been experienced in living memory, and across the most populated parts of California the ongoing drought is more severe than any previous event in well over a century. We are currently supposed to be at the peak of the rainy season in California, and each day that passes without meaningful precipitation is another day when our long-term deficits grow measurably larger. The first annual Sierra snow survey on January 7th brought no surprises: snow water equivalent on that date was only 20% of normal overall, and considerably less than that in the north where much of the reservoir capacity resides. Over the past few days, negative snow anomalies have continued to increase, and preliminary data suggest that (as of 1-10-2014) Sierra snow water equivalent may be at its lowest level ever recorded for the date. This suggests that the dryness of the 2013-2014 water year so far is similar to (or worse than) that experienced during the 1976-1977 water season. This assertion is also supported by looking at the Northern Sierra 8-Station Index, which is considered a representative metric of precipitation across this hydrologically critical region. Considering the extreme dryness of the second half of water year 2012-2013, it’s no wonder that that 2013 smashed so many all-time low precipitation records in California.
Reservoir levels in California have been falling rapidly since summer 2013, but these extremely low water levels are finally making headlines as some water districts are already facing difficult choices and the potential for severe water usage restrictions. Folsom Lake has become something of an icon of the ongoing drought in California as its water level has dropped precipitously to one of its lowest levels in history (see photograph near the top of the post, courtesy of Adam Flint), imminently threatening the water supply for suburban Sacramento. Numerous other smaller water districts, from the Central Coast up through Mendocino County, are facing or will soon face similar conditions. A wider water crisis is still a little way down the road, but if California does not receive widespread and very substantial precipitation over the next two months, many communities (especially in the northern and central parts of the state) stand to face water shortages of a magnitude previously unseen in the modern era...
And while there are a few months of rainy season left, not many optimistic long-term forecasts to be found.
California drought: Three more months of dry weather likely, National Weather Service announces
In a new dose of bad news for a state growing increasingly concerned about lack of rain, California's historically dry weather is expected to last for at least another three months, federal scientists said Thursday.
The dire forecast for the rest of the state's winter rain season came as federal officials classified much of California as being in "extreme drought." And the Obama administration declared 27 California counties, including most of the Bay Area, as "natural disaster areas," eligible for emergency federal loans for farmers.
Computer models based on data from satellites, buoys in the Pacific Ocean and other sources favor below-normal levels of rainfall for California, much of Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas until April, according to a new report from the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center.
"There will be a few precipitation events, but we're looking at drier-than-normal conditions in February, March and April," said Matthew Rosencrans, a meteorologist with the agency, which is based in College Park, Md. "Right now we are saying the odds do not indicate a Miracle March, which is not a good thing."...
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_24929977/california-drought-three-more-months-dry-weather-likely" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;