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El Niño Gearing Up For ‘Second Peak’ in Southern California

It’s a little too soon to write of this season’s El Niño as a no-show, just because a punishing succession of drenching storms has yet to materialize. The weather phenomenon is still on, even if the drizzles in Southern California and the harder rain up north that are happening now aren’t really El Niño-driven, according to experts. (With the exception of the intense rain in the first week of this month.) The LA Times reports that the relatively mild weather we’re seeing now here in the Southland is actually just part of normal weather for this time of year, but they insist that there are still serious storms .

What Happened To El Niño? Be Patient, L.A., It’ll Come, Expert Says

When the first hints of El Niño developed last year, experts believed that the brunt of the rain would occur in Southern California rather than Northern California.

So far this season, the opposite has happened.

 

Since Oct. 1, San Francisco was at 100% of average rainfall as of Monday; Eureka at 142% and Fresno, 152%. Yet Los Angeles was only at 64% of average.

No Federal Water for CA Farmers Despite El Niño

The current El Niño is already the strongest since 1950 in many areas of California, including the fertile San Joaquin Valley, where many of the country’s fruits and vegetables are grown. Fresno has seen 6.61 inches of rain since October 1; the historical average is 4.64 inches, according to the Fresno Bee.

 

There is more rain on the way: the National Weather Service forecasts two new storm systems will move into the area on Monday and Tuesday, dropping rain in the Valley and snow in the Sierra Nevada.

 

Two More Storms Ahead This Week

Humboldt County residents should keep their rain jackets, their umbrellas handy, and alternate routes in mind, because two storms — one today and another later in the week — are expected to hit the county.

 

Another storm is expected to bring more rain across Humboldt County all day today, National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Aylward said.

California Farmers Brace for Water Shortage Despite El Nino

Farmers in California’s fertile San Joaquin Valley are bracing to receive no irrigation water from the federal government for a third consecutive year.

 

They’re hoping for El Nino-driven storms to produce the very wet winter they need. Reservoirs and groundwater supplies are critically low after four drought years.

Study: Borrego Water Woes Dire

A study recently completed by the U.S. Geological Survey confirms what people in the tiny desert town of Borrego Springs have suspected for some time: Their only source of water, deep below the earth, is being depleted at a rate roughly four times faster than it is being replenished.

 

The six-year study, done in conjunction with the Borrego Water District, puts hard numbers to a situation that can only be described as dire. Complicating matters further, the Borrego Water District recently was forced to enter into an agreement with the state saying it will find a way to stop over-drawing the aquifer within 20 years.

January Rainfall at Levels Not Seen In Six Years

North State residents are seeing something this month they haven’t seen in several years.

It has been six years since this much rain has fallen over the North State in January, according to the National Weather Service.

Since the beginning of the month, 8.41 inches of rain has fallen at the Weather Service’s rain gauge at the Redding Municipal Airport — almost as much as the past five years combined. In January 2015, only .26 inches of rain fell on Redding.

California Snowpack, Local Reservoir Levels Slowly Growing

California remains in a serious drought, but the good news is that El Niño-driven storms are slowing rebuilding the Sierra snowpack and raising reservoir levels in San Diego County.

The state snowpack stood at 110 percent of normal level for this time of year on Friday, and reservoirs in San Diego County were at their highest level in January in four years.

 

“We’re always pleased to see our reservoir levels increase,” said Dana Friehauf, water resources manager for the San Diego County Water Authority. “We probably did capture some of the rainfall from the past week.”

California Considers Easing Some Water Conservation Mandates

California cities that are hot, dry or crowded, or have managed to come up with new sources of water, might be able to get a slight break in the state’s drought-time water-conservation targets, state officials said Friday.

 

California’s Water Resources Control Board is slated to decide in February whether to slightly ease water-conservation targets for some cities and towns. Gov. Jerry Brown mandated last year that the state overall had to see 25 percent less water use by cities and towns to cope with the state’s four-year drought.

OPINION: Snowfall a Good Sign for Tahoe

The New Year is getting off to a phenomenal start with snow falling at Lake Tahoe. It seems long ago since we’ve had snow around the lake, but as California and Nevada continue to grapple with four years of drought and water shortages, the snow couldn’t be falling at a better time.

 

A snow survey this January by California Department of Water Resources found 54 inches of snow at Echo Summit. That’s 16 inches above average for this time of year. And it’s significantly more snow than we saw last April when the snowpack is usually at its greatest but surveyors found no accumulated snow on the ground.