Yes, the artic blast affecting the Midwest, East and South is dominating the news. It will likely be a snowy or wet day in DC for Jimmy Carter's funeral.
Out in southern California, we're looking at drought once again.
California is entering the fourth month of what is typically the rainy season, but in the Southland, the landscape is beginning to show signs of drought. The last time Los Angeles recorded rainfall over a tenth of an inch — the threshold that officials typically consider helpful for thirsty plants and the reduction of wildfire risk — was May 5, when downtown received just 0.13 inches of rain. “It’s safe to say this is [one of] the top ten driest starts to our rainy season on record,” said Ryan Kittell, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard. “Basically, all the plants are as dry as they normally are in October.” California’s wet season can run from October to April, although most of the precipitation occurs from December to February.
Current forecasts show little hope that a needed storm could develop in the next few weeks, and the Southern California landscape — ripe for wildfire and never far from chronic water shortages — is paying the price. Much of the region, including the majority of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and San Diego counties, has fallen into moderate drought conditions, according to a U.S. Drought Monitor map released this week. The last time the Southland saw similarly dry conditions was in early 2023, as the state was exiting a punishing, years-long drought thanks to an exceptional kickoff to the wet season. Prior to the recent drought report, conditions in Southern California were considered to be “abnormally dry” for the last few weeks. Much of the Central Valley remains in that category. “Above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation resulted in expansion of drought in Arizona, California and Nevada,” the new report said.
The latest long-range forecasts show Southern California remaining in a below-average rainfall pattern for the entire month of January, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center. And drier conditions appear to be in store statewide beginning next week through mid-January, marking a shift for Northern California in particular, where the season started with bouts of heavy rain and snow. “Southern California remains dry,” said Michael Anderson, state climatologist for the Department of Water Resources. “We’re being watchful right now. The [snowpack] numbers in the Central and Southern Sierra aren’t where we want them, and certainly the outlooks are not favoring much growth here in January.”
Dramatic swings have marked previous years. At this point last year, precipitation remained below average until a “miracle March” storm came along and pushed up snowpack and water levels, Anderson said. “We still have February and February is statistically our wettest month,” Kittell said. “There is still good reason to hope we’re not going to be dry all winter, but it’s certainly a very dry start.” A lot remains to be seen about this rainy season, but even still, officials are hopeful though preparing for the worst. If the Southwest does indeed remain dry this winter, a stronger showing in the North and across the Colorado River Basin, as well as water reserves from prior years, could help make up for some of the challenges that come with drought, particularly since Los Angeles County still imports a majority of its water. “There’s been quite a gradient in the amount of precipitation in California from north to south so far this year,” said Andy Reising, the manager for DWR’s snow surveys and water supply forecasting unit.
Though rainfall remains at essentially zero in the southern third of the state, it’s been above average in Northern California thus far, pulling up the statewide average.
https://www.latimes.com/california/stor ... s-bone-dry
Good news for northern California and bad news for southern California. We'll see what happens in February and March.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan
