The snow keeps piling up, but the rules requiring water conservation aren’t going away. California’s drought regulators agreed Tuesday to extend water conservation mandates through the end of October. The decision came in spite of increasing evidence that El Niño is delivering better-than-average precipitation, including an encouraging measurement of the Sierra Nevada snowpack recorded […]
A thousand miles south of Hawaii, the air at 45,000 feet above the equatorial Pacific was a shimmering gumbo of thick storm clouds and icy cirrus haze, all cooked up by the overheated waters below. In a Gulfstream jet more accustomed to hunting hurricanes in the Atlantic, researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric […]
Following a welcomed parade of El Niño storms drenching drought-stricken California, state officials on Tuesday will decide whether to extend emergency conservation orders, and reveal how much water Californians saved in December. The figures are expected to show that for a third straight month, Californians missed a mandate to use 25 percent less water. […]
It didn’t rain too heavily during January but it sure rained often, resulting in rainfall far above average for the month. In Chico, 8.61 inches fell during the month at the Enterprise-Record weather station, nearly double the 4.86 inches normal for the month. The National Weather Service put the rain in Oroville for January […]
The U.S. Forest Service today released a new report, Effects of Drought on Forests and Rangelands in the United States: A Comprehensive Science Synthesis, that provides a national assessment of peer-reviewed scientific research on the impacts of drought on U.S. forests and rangelands. This report will help the Forest Service better manage forests and grasslands […]
California’s unprecedented dry spell has tested the limits of drought-tolerant ferns, which carpet the forest floor underneath the West Coast’s iconic redwoods, according to a new study by UC Santa Cruz scientists. “We’ve never seen a drought of this magnitude,” said co-author Jarmila Pittermann, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. “You’re used to […]
California Extends Mandatory Water Cuts Despite Growing Snowpack
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby By Ryan Sabalow, Phillip Reese and Dale KaslerThe snow keeps piling up, but the rules requiring water conservation aren’t going away. California’s drought regulators agreed Tuesday to extend water conservation mandates through the end of October. The decision came in spite of increasing evidence that El Niño is delivering better-than-average precipitation, including an encouraging measurement of the Sierra Nevada snowpack recorded […]
Researchers Fly into Heart of Biggest El Niño in a Generation
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Boston Globeby By Henry FountainA thousand miles south of Hawaii, the air at 45,000 feet above the equatorial Pacific was a shimmering gumbo of thick storm clouds and icy cirrus haze, all cooked up by the overheated waters below. In a Gulfstream jet more accustomed to hunting hurricanes in the Atlantic, researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric […]
California Weighs Extending Drought Conservation Orders
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Associated Press (As Published by ABC News Fresno)by By Scott SmithFollowing a welcomed parade of El Niño storms drenching drought-stricken California, state officials on Tuesday will decide whether to extend emergency conservation orders, and reveal how much water Californians saved in December. The figures are expected to show that for a third straight month, Californians missed a mandate to use 25 percent less water. […]
January Rainfall about Double What’s Normal
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /ChicoERIt didn’t rain too heavily during January but it sure rained often, resulting in rainfall far above average for the month. In Chico, 8.61 inches fell during the month at the Enterprise-Record weather station, nearly double the 4.86 inches normal for the month. The National Weather Service put the rain in Oroville for January […]
Effects of Drought for Forests and Rangelands
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /AG Net West (Fresno)The U.S. Forest Service today released a new report, Effects of Drought on Forests and Rangelands in the United States: A Comprehensive Science Synthesis, that provides a national assessment of peer-reviewed scientific research on the impacts of drought on U.S. forests and rangelands. This report will help the Forest Service better manage forests and grasslands […]
UCSC Study: Drought Testing Limits of Hardy Ferns
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Santa Cruz Sentinelby By Samantha ClarkCalifornia’s unprecedented dry spell has tested the limits of drought-tolerant ferns, which carpet the forest floor underneath the West Coast’s iconic redwoods, according to a new study by UC Santa Cruz scientists. “We’ve never seen a drought of this magnitude,” said co-author Jarmila Pittermann, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. “You’re used to […]