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A Rare Third Year of La Niña is on Deck for California, Forecasters Say

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith

Californians should brace for another year of La Niña as the stubborn climate pattern in the tropical Pacific is expected to persist for a third consecutive year, forecasters say.

The latest outlook, published Thursday by the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center, has increased the chances of La Niña sticking around through November to 91%, a near certainty. The pattern may also linger into winter, with an 80% chance of La Niña from November to January and a 54% chance from January to March.

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100 Years After Compact, Colorado River Nearing Crisis Point

/in , , /by /Associated Pressby Chris Outcalt and Brittany Peterson

The intensifying crisis facing the Colorado River amounts to what is fundamentally a math problem.

The 40 million people who depend on the river to fill up a glass of water at the dinner table or wash their clothes or grow food across millions of acres use significantly more each year than actually flows through the banks of the Colorado.

In fact, first sliced up 100 years ago in a document known as the Colorado River Compact, the calculation of who gets what amount of that water may never have been balanced.

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What the Western Drought Reveals About Hydropower

/in , , /by /EnergyWireby Jason Plautz

The relentless Western drought that is threatening water supplies in the country’s largest reservoirs is exposing a reality that could portend a significant shift in electricity: Hydropower is not the reliable backbone it once was.

Utilities and states are preparing for a world with less available water and turning more to wind and solar, demand response, energy storage and improved grid connections. That planning has helped Western states keep the lights on this summer even in severe drought conditions.

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‘Clairvoyant’ 2012 Climate Report Warned of Extreme Weather

/in , /by /Associated Pressby Seth Borenstein

Record high temperatures in urban Europe as heat waves bake the planet more often. Devastating floods, some in poorer unprepared areas. Increasing destruction from hurricanes. Drought and famine in poorer parts of Africa as dry spells worsen across the globe. Wild weather worldwide getting stronger and more frequent, resulting “in unprecedented extremes.”

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Rains, Mudslides Prompt Southern California Evacuations

/in , /by /Associated Pressby Stephanie Dazio

Thousands of residents were under evacuation and shelter-in-place orders early Tuesday after heavy rains unleashed mudslides in a mountain area east of Los Angeles that burned two years ago, sending boulders and other debris across roads.

Firefighters went street by street in the community of Forest Falls Monday night to make sure no residents were trapped. Eric Sherwin, spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Fire Department, said crews hadn’t found anyone who needed to be rescued and no one was reported missing. Crews would canvas the neighborhoods again and begin cleanup efforts after sunrise, he said.

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Northstate Rice Farmers Struggle to Grow Crops as Drought Persists

/in , /by /KRCR TVby Jessica Shippelhoute

Dry, cracked rice fields can be seen driving along Interstate 5 in Glenn and Colusa counties. This year has been more than challenging for farmers as California continues its third consecutive year of extreme drought conditions.

KRCR spoke to fourth-generation farmer Chris Johnson on Monday about not being able to plant crop due to lower water allocation from the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District (GCID).

 

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California: Drought, Record Heat, Fires and Now Maybe Floods

/in , , /by /AP News (via U.S. News and World Report)by Brian Melley

Californians sweated it out amid a record-breaking heat wave entering its 10th day Friday that has helped fuel deadly wildfires and pushed energy supplies to the brink of daily power outages.

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At Lake Powell, a ‘Front-Row Seat’ to a Drying Colorado River and an Uncertain Future

/in , , /by /Arizona Republicby Brandon Loomis

At his office whiteboard on this dam town’s desert edge, the water utility manager recited the federal government’s latest measures of the colossal reservoir that lay 4 miles down the road, then scrawled an ominous sketch showing how far it has shrunk.

In his stylized drawing of Lake Powell, the surface lapped just above where he marked his town’s drinking water pipe, bringing the Colorado River drought crisis uncomfortably close to home.

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15-Day Watering Ban Begins for Parts of L.A. County

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Summer Lin

A 15-day outdoor watering ban took effect for 4 million Los Angeles County residents on Tuesday as crews make emergency repairs to a pipeline that delivers water to Southern Californians, according to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

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When It Comes to Fighting Climate Change, California Says Consider the Beaver

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Nathan Solis

As California grapples with drought, a record heat wave and persistent wildfires, one state agency is turning to the beaver in its battle against climate change.

The large rodents, according to researchers, are resourceful engineers capable of increasing water storage and creating natural firebreaks with their dams.

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