As California’s traditional season for rain and snow began last fall, meteorologists and hydrologists predicted that the state would probably experience a second year of heavy precipitation.
El Niño is here, but California isn’t seeing the impact, at least not yet. Joe Sirard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles, says precipitation for the current water year is generally lagging behind averages.
The National Weather Service modeling predicts a “historically strong” El Niño this winter, the first in five years. What does that mean for gardens? A warm winter and usually, rain.
In the minds of many Californians, El Niño has long loomed as a rainmaker of epic proportions. In 1982-83, the Pacific climate pattern caused storms that pounded the state’s shoreline, damaging 1,000 homes between Santa Barbara and the Mexican border and washing the tip of the Santa Monica Pier out to sea.
About seven miles from the Sacramento International Airport, crews are putting the finishing touches on a project meant to provide massive flood relief to a wide swath of the Sacramento region during intense storms.
Increased rainfall, with a growing chance for heavy precipitation over Christmas, is expected across much of California, beginning next week and lasting through the rest of December.
It’s been a lackluster start to the rainy season in California, but there are growing signs that the storm door is about to swing wide open.
After steadily climbing all year, Lake Mead’s water levels have hit an unexpected milestone.
The California Department of Water Resources on Friday said its initial State Water Project allocation forecast is 10% of requested supplies for next year — a 5% increase from its December 2022 initial forecast.
San Diego County has fallen behind in seasonal rainfall. A weak storm could bring a little moisture Wednesday through Friday. But the National Weather Service says the region will then be dry until late next week, and perhaps for much, much longer.
