With parts of California yet again burned by severe fires, the state is facing a new winter of mudslides.
Why do mudslides happen so often in California?
Mudslides have always been at the heart of the peril of living close to the mountains in California. All it can take is an intense amount of rain in a short amount of time to create damaging flows of mud and debris that can kill people and destroy buildings.
Aside from advanced economies and Mediterranean climates that sustain long growing seasons, California, Spain and Australia share an intermittent feature that reshapes their overburdened water systems every time it rears its ugly head: drought.
As populations and the demand for both rural and urban water supplies increase, so have the damaging impacts of droughts and water shortages. A recent series of bitterly dry stretches have forced lawmakers in the different continents to scrap outdated approaches and become more proactive in shielding drought.
High winds Monday prompted warnings of more wildfires in parts of the north state, and a small grass fire threatened homes near Roseville.
But the prospect of rain and snow in the immediate forecast means the California wildfire season is likely nearing its end.
Southern California has already been soaked, and the north state is set to have more than a foot of snow just in time for the Thanksgiving travel rush. Despite one of the driest starts to the rainy season in years, the heavy soaking expected this week will likely mark the unofficial end to the fire season, experts said.
Despite increased maintenance of Oroville Dam since the spillway fell apart in February 2017, members of the community-led Oroville Dam Ad Hoc Group have expressed concern about the age and wear of mechanics within the spillway’s main gates, citing similar failures on dams of the same era.
The Department of Water Resources convened a meeting Nov. 13 of the Oroville Dam Ad Hoc Group — an organization comprised of local elected officials and stakeholders appointed by state Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama) and Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) — as part of the Oroville Dam Safety Comprehensive Needs Assessment that was initiated by the DWR after the spillway crumbled.
Hurricane-force winds, blizzard conditions, heavy snowfall — and a “bomb cyclone” on the West Coast: Those are the dire predictions of weather forecasters, who are warning Thanksgiving travelers to be cautious and prepare for delays as two powerful back-to-back storms hit the western and central U.S. this week.
The National Weather Service’s U.S. forecast map is draped in alarming shades of pink, purple and red, reflecting winter storm warnings that are in effect from California to Michigan.
Snow, rain and strong winds will make travel conditions difficult in parts of the West this week from an powerful storm that will slowly spread toward the central and eastern United States into this weekend.
The intensifying storm is located in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and will move into Oregon and Northern California on Tuesday. This storm will undergo bombogenesis before it moves inland. This means it will be a bomb cyclone since its pressure will drop at least 24 millibars within 24 hours, making it an intense storm when it strikes.
After a dry, tranquil day Tuesday, a cold, soggy guest will muscle its way into Southern California’s holiday plans late that night.
A deep upper-level trough of low pressure is forecast to develop over the West Coast and bring cold, wet conditions to the region from Wednesday through at least Friday, according to the National Weather Service. The system is carrying sufficient moisture to bring moderate to locally heavy precipitation and, with the cold air aloft, may generate isolated thunderstorms.
The governor was for the water grab before he was against it.
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his intention to launch the latest of dozens of legal battles between California and the Trump administration over a plan to boost water deliveries to Central Valley farmers, promising a lawsuit challenging further depletion of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and the vulnerable wildlife that depends on it.
Turning on the faucet and having water come out has become such a common daily occurrence that nobody stops to think about it. In times of abundance, everything goes smoothly. However, when rain is scarce or almost nonexistent and reservoir capacity diminishes considerably, that is when alarm bells are set off and governments scramble trying to find a solution. As they say, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
So far, October and November 2019 has been the driest (or almost the driest) beginning of any recorded water year with almost zero precipitation. (The 2020 water year began October 1, 2019 – so you might have missed a New Year’s party already.)
Should we worry about a drought yet?
