Tag Archive for: Weather

Snowpack at 114% After Weekend Storms Hit Rockies; Will We See a Repeat of Wet Winter?

It’s still more than seven weeks before the official start of winter (Dec. 21), but weekend storms in Colorado’s high country are reason enough to look in on snowpack levels that will eventually provide the water that flows to Lake Mead.

A month into the 2023 “water year,” snowpack levels are slightly above normal in the Upper Colorado River Basin: 114% as of Nov. 1, according to data on the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s website. The water year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 each year.

First Measurable, Widespread Snow Expected in California Sierra

The first measurable, widespread snow is expected in California’s Sierra Nevada Wednesday into Thursday, with a cold storm from the Gulf of Alaska poised to sweep the Golden State, according to the National Weather Service. There’s another chance for snow later in the week as well.

Climate Change Is Driving a Global Water Trade You Can’t See

Every manifestation of the ­dangerous weather wreaking havoc around the world has one thing in common: water. As the Earth’s climate changes, the lack of water, or its sudden abundance, is reshaping the global economy and international trade. From prolonged drought slowing down ships in the Panama Canal to deluges halting industrial production in Japan, it’s one of the most obvious ways that rising temperatures are affect­ing businesses.

September Was Hot in the US, But Not So Much in San Diego

September was one of the warmest ever in the United States, with records falling in 111 counties, but conditions were moderate in Southern California.

Most of the country baked under record heat in September as large swaths of hot air covered the Midwest and East. The final tally put September 2023 as the seventh warmest in the last 129 years.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) said it was also the third-driest September ever recorded in the lower 48 states.

September Sizzled to Records and Was So Much Warmer Than Average Scientists Call It ‘Mind-Blowing’

After a summer of record-smashing heat, warming somehow got even worse in September as Earth set a new mark for how far above normal temperatures were, the European climate agency reported Thursday.

Last month’s average temperature was 0.93 degrees Celsius (1.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1991-2020 average for September. That’s the warmest margin above average for a month in 83 years of records kept by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

“It’s just mind-blowing really,” said Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo. “Never seen anything like that in any month in our records.”

Developing ‘Super’ El Niño Could Match California’s Great Deluge of 1997-98

Current El Niño conditions appear likely to become comparable to the “great” El Niño of 1997-98, according to an experimental prediction system used by the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Atmospheric Research.

“Our forecast system has shown that it can do a remarkably good job of accurately hindcasting past El Niño events when we’ve tested it using historical data, which gives us high confidence in this forecast,” said NCAR scientist Stephen Yeager, who helped lead the modeling effort.

Reliable Water Supplies Make San Diego Region Well-Prepared for 2024

Thanks to a decades-long supply diversification strategy and continued efficient use of water across the region, the San Diego County Water Authority announced today that the region has reliable supplies to meet demands in Water Year 2024, which started Oct. 1.

Hydrologists use Oct. 1 to begin measuring the snow and rain that will help carry water users through dry summer months the following calendar year. This fall, El Niño conditions continue to strengthen and could bring above-average precipitation to Southern California.

Wettest, Wildest, Weirdest Rainy Season in Nearly 20 Years Comes to End in San Diego County

From the backcountry of Campo to the back roads of Ramona, firefighters were ready to roll last fall at even the hint of wildfire.

Two years of below-average rain and high temperatures had left the landscape parched. Something as small as heat from a car muffler could be enough to ignite grass. Firefighters described the region as primed to burn.

A Very Wet Year for San Diego

San Diego’s water year ends Saturday — and it will be recorded as the 14th wettest year on record for the city.

A recorded 15.72 inches of rain fell at the San Diego Airport over the past 12 months. The weather station there typically sees about 9.5 inches a year.

It was the wettest year ever on Palomar Mountain. Rainfall there totaled 69.24 inches.

El Niño is Coming, But Will It Be a Super One?

An El Niño winter is ahead, weather forecasters firmly believe. The question they are pondering is exactly how strong it might be.

Locally, the worldwide weather factor is mostly known for directing heavy moisture toward California and the Southwest as temperatures warm several degrees across the eastern and central Pacific Ocean.