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BLOG: ENSO the Wet Season Ends (Almost)

March 2016 has been unusually wet, and quite a contrast to February.  The “Godzilla” El Nino this year has been a bit “Gonzo”, but overall has brought a welcome above average precipitation for northern California, after four solid drought years.  The unevenness of the precipitation is some concern, and the depth of remaining surface and subsurface storage drawdown from the drought remains sizable.

Annual precipitation and snowpack are now about average overall for California.  The largest reservoirs in northern California are in good shape, with sizable, about average, snowpacks waiting to trickle down in spring.

Experts: Folsom Lake levels 10 feet higher than Last Month

Folsom Lake is 10 feet higher Sunday as compared to a month ago. “I have seen it go from Desert Folsom to Lake Folsom,” said Stacey Nieporte, who was visiting the lake Sunday from El Dorado Hills.

Folsom Lake now stands at 439 feet deep — that’s 110 percent of the historical average for this date, according to the California Data Exchange Center at the Department of Water Resources. There is now much more water to enjoy for enthusiasts like Mark Wilson, who just bought a jet ski two weeks ago to take advantage of the rising lake levels.

California Leaders Double Down on Dry

The drought, if somewhat ameliorated by a passably wet winter in Northern California, reminds us that aridity defines the West. Our vulnerability is particularly marked here in Southern California, where the local rivers and springs could barely support a few hundred thousand residents, as opposed to the 20 million or so who live here. Bay Area, we’re talking about you, too, since about two-thirds of your drinking water is imported.

 

California Drought Patterns Becoming More Common

Atmospheric scientists have found that California’s highest temperatures are almost always associated with blocking ridges, regions of high atmospheric pressure than can disrupt wind patterns – including one known as the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge. The Triple R, as it’s called, is also linked with California’s drought.

In new research published online this week in the journal Science Advances, a team of researchers led by Stanford University scientist Noah Diffenbaugh analyzed the occurrence of large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns that occurred during California’s historical precipitation and temperature extremes.