In the mountains above coastal Santa Barbara County, the vegetation is typically so deep and lush that it can soak up a half-inch of rainwater before it flows downhill. But that was before the Thomas fire swept through in December, burning those trees and brush to the ground. Now, the rain has no buffer, and that is cause for alarm.
A strong Pacific storm that will hit Southern California early this week could bring up to 1½ inches of rain to San Diego and a dusting of snow to local mountains Tuesday. Forecasters say the storm system will arrive late tonight with a few light showers and increasing winds, with heavier rain, strong winds and snow in mountain areas above the 5,000-foot level by Tuesday.
After a bone dry December, the stubborn atmospheric ridge of the Pacific Coast has broken down, the storm door has opened up, and on Monday, Californians from Redding to San Diego welcomed something we haven’t seen all winter: the Golden State’s first significant storm of the season.
Few things are more important to the future of the Bay Area and Northern California than the quality of our water supply. And here comes the latest threat. At the behest of the Central Valley’s billionaire agribusiness operators, the Trump administration on Dec. 29 proposed pumping more water south from the fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta despite the potentially devastating long-term impact on the water Silicon Valley and the East Bay count on.
California finally got its first real taste of winter weather Monday as a substantial rainstorm swept through the state, causing numerous traffic accidents and bringing warnings of flooding and mudslides in areas burned by wildfires. The National Weather Service said much of the Sacramento Valley could receive up to 2 inches of rain by the time the storm winds down late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Although the storm started out fairly warm, bringing mostly rain, parts of the Sierra Nevada could expect as much as 30 inches of snow.
Officials across the region are preparing for the first major storm of the winter, which could cause significant flooding and property damage and snarl morning and evening rush-hour commutes. The National Weather Service predicted that up to an inch of rain along the coast, and roughly twice that in the mountains, would soak the region starting late Monday night into this morning. Foothill communities above 5,000 feet could see light snow flurries.
Last year’s devastating floods and fires in California combined with hurricanes and other natural disasters to wreak unprecedented financial damage on the United States, the federal government reported Monday. The nation endured 16 weather and climate events that inflicted $1 billion or more apiece in damage in 2017, tying 2011 for the most 10-digit calamities in a year and setting an annual total-cost record of $306 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The natural disasters resulted in 362 deaths.
After a record setting dry start to our water year, heavy rain is back in SoCal this week. Light rain is falling for the Monday morning commute, with heavier and more widespread showers hitting the region as the day progresses. A flash flood watch goes into effect Monday at 4 p.m. and going though Tuesday night.
Think of it as a dense blob of air. When it parks itself over the Pacific Ocean, it can act like a wall – and prevent rain and snow from reaching Northern California. When meteorologists say a “high pressure system” or a “ridiculously resilient ridge” is keeping the West unseasonably dry, this is what they mean.
A tiny fish caught in California’s tug of war over water has become harder to find than ever, a state survey found, despite a very wet winter last year that had raised hopes for a bounce back after five years of drought. Environmentalists say the record-low fall survey for the Delta smelt bolsters the case for protecting salmon and other wild fish with sharper limits on water exported from the Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta to San Joaquin Valley farms and many cities in California
