This Pacific Ocean climate phenomenon shifts global weather patterns, and often means heavier-than-normal winter rainfall in Southern California. While an El Niño offers hope of a wet year in Southern California, a moderate or weak event could mean another dry winter in 2014.įorecasters say there is an 80 percent chance of an El Niño developing by fall, but it's no slam-dunk. Fresno: 4.81 in (12.22 cm) 42 percent of average.San Diego: 5.06 in (12.85 cm) 49 percent of average.San Francisco: 12.54 in (31.85 cm) 53 percent of average.Sacramento: 10.35 in (26.29 cm) 51 percent of average.Los Angeles: 6.08 inches (15.44 cm) 41 percent of average.Here are some of the precipitation totals, as of June 29, from the National Weather Service. The same region received 3.15 inches (8 cm) from July 1, 2012, through June 29, 2013, which is 49 percent of normal for the water year. The city of Bakersfield, in California's farm-rich Central Valley, received 2.41 inches (6.12 centimeters) of rain, or 37 percent of normal precipitation through June 29, according to the National Weather Service. Many communities have ordered water-use restrictions, and farmers are feeling the effects of low water allocations from the state. The entire state is in severe drought conditions, with 77 percent in an extreme drought and 33 percent considered to be in an exceptional drought, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency for the state on Jan. Much more rain will be required to further lift California out of its drought conditions, however.This year is the third consecutive below-normal water year for California. Drought Monitor data was last updated on January 3, meaning that even more of the state may have received enough rain to change its drought status in the week since, as well as the incoming bad weather in the next few days. As of January 8, Shasta's water levels had risen to 942.46 feet. On December 25, 2022, Shasta's water levels were at 908.42 feet above sea level. The rain has impacted other drought-ridden areas of the state, including Lake Shasta, situated around 170 miles north of Sacramento, which is the largest reservoir in California. Imperial County and Riverside County have experienced no rainfall in the past few days, however. Fort Dick in Del Norte, which has an average of 95 wet days per year, received over 2 inches of rain on January 8. In the newly drought-free areas in Del Norte County, a large amount of rain fell over the past week. Read more California reservoir water levels before and after rain "Multiple systems over the past week have saturated soils, increased flow in rivers and streams, and truly set the stage for this to become a high-impact event," the National Weather Service said in a statement. December 26 to January 4 is now the record holder for the wettest 10-day stretch ever in San Francisco. Throughout the first week of January, the state has been inundated by a series of storms, bringing even more rain, flooding and high winds. On December 31, 5.46 inches of rain fell in a single day in San Francisco, making it the second wettest day in the city in the past 170 years. Want to know why heavy rainfall isn't enough to solve California's drought crisis? Check out Newsweek's in-depth explainer However, a lot more rain would be needed to drag California out of its decades-long megadrought, as short-term fluctuations in how dry an area is at a given time is drastically different to the long-term trend of dryness across the state. These changes away from the arid drought-ridden conditions throughout the state may be a result of the deluge of rainfall seen since the start of 2023, caused by several atmospheric rivers being flung from a bomb cyclone in the Pacific Ocean. Drought Monitor maps of California's drought on Decemand January 3 2023.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |