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While temperatures around the Tahoe Basin are forecast to reach close to 15 degrees above average this week — with no precipitation expected — meteorologists and water resource officials say it’s not yet a cause for concern when it comes to the snowpack.

“February is climatologically our best month for accumulation,” Reno National Weather Service meteorologist Justin Norman said, adding, however, “it’s not uncommon to have a dry spell.”

Introduction of a California water bill in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Dianne Feinstein will help Congress move toward final legislation that addresses the state’s chronic water shortages, according to the president of the California Farm Bureau Federation.

“Senator Feinstein has never been shy about tackling the tough issues, and we appreciate her work to create a California water bill for the Senate’s consideration,” CFBF President Paul Wenger said. “The Senate must pass this bill so it can advance to a conference committee with the drought bill already passed by the House of Representatives.

By this point in winter, Southern California was supposed to be dealing with rains and flooding, not brush fires and beach weather.

Yet temperatures have soared this week, breaking records in downtown Los Angeles and other locations across California, with even hotter conditions expected Tuesday. Forecasters warn of more hot winds as well as temperatures that could exceed 90 degrees downtown.

The U.S. – Israel Center (USIC) at UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management recently unveiled a new rain barrel program at three San Diego schools and Pacific Beach Middle is one of the schools participating in the international project.

Earlier this month, four rain barrels, which will collect the water from the school’s roof and save it, were installed at the middle school. Students will use the captured rain water to care for campus gardens, and students at the Farm Lab also will use it to flush toilets.