Most Californians don’t expect to see anything like a white Christmas, but this year, even a damp Christmas is looking unlikely. An update to the Climate Prediction Center’s official winter forecast shows a hot and dry season ahead for much of the Golden State.
Tire chains. Winter coats. Gloves. Remember them? Snow is expected to fall across the Sierra Nevada early next week as a storm from the Gulf of Alaska pushes into California and the rest of the West Coast, bringing a likelihood of light rain to the Bay Area. Although details will become clearer in the next few days, forecasters said Friday that at least a foot of snow is expected to fall at higher elevations on Tuesday in the Sierra, potentially causing visibility issues and the need for motorists to carry tire chains if they are heading over mountain passes Tuesday and Wednesday as temperatures fall.
Heavy monsoon rains have helped to relieve the Southwest’s historic drought, but water officials say the deluge isn’t enough to reverse a drying trend that has depleted the region’s primary water sources.
Much of the West remains entrenched in a 23-year “historically unprecedented” drought driven by climate change, said Jonathan Deason, an environmental engineering professor at George Washington University.
“It’s going to take about three years of above-average rainfall to have substantial recovery,” he said.
In another promising sign that residents are taking calls for conservation to heart, Angelenos in July achieved an 11% reduction in water use — more than any other July on record, officials announced this week.
The report from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power comes as drought continues to sap supplies across the region. But while July’s conservation surpassed the record 9% reduction achieved in L.A. in June, officials urged residents to keep going.
Sometimes, it takes zooming out to a bird’s eye view to fully understand the devastating impacts of drought in California.
Images captured from space by government and private satellites offer a sobering look at how the current drought — in year three — is affecting the state’s land and natural resources.
The latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows about 97% of California in moderate or worse drought, with much of the Central Valley and southern portions of the state in the worst conditions.
It is unlikely the Sacramento area will receive a substantial amount of rain anytime soon, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasts for this weekend show temperatures climbing above the average for this time of year which is around 94 degrees, weather service spokesman Craig Shoemaker said.
And it’s expected to remain dry in the area for awhile.
The forecast for Southern California grass is yellow and brown from here on out.
On Wednesday, new restrictions on outdoor water use go into effect for more than 6 million residents in the Los Angeles area. The rules, set by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, limit outdoor watering to one day per week in many jurisdictions — while others opted to stay below a volume limit — as authorities try to dramatically reduce urban water use amid the record-breaking drought fueled by the warming climate.
California’s wet season wrapped up as a big disappointment, setting the stage for a third year of drought.
Most of the state — about 96% — was categorized as having severe drought conditions as March came to a close, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The continuing drought suggests more water restrictions are forthcoming as supplies run low.
The Department of Water Resources launched a new website to help Californians easily access information on local and statewide water conditions — down to their own region and even neighborhood.
The California Water Watch site was introduced Friday as the state reported the driest January and February since weather records have been kept.
The website provides real-time information on precipitation, temperature, reservoirs, snowpack, groundwater, streamflow, soil moisture and vegetation conditions as well as forecasts.
California just received more precipitation in the last three months of 2021 than it got in the previous year. The mountains are heaped with historic amounts of heavy snow. But the rain had no sooner given way to sun than state regulators issued new rules forbidding water-wasting practices such as hosing down sidewalks and driveways. What’s going on?
