Deepening drought
In December, California was hit by an āatmospheric riverā event, a storm fed by a stream of moisture directly from the tropics. That storm dumped several centimeters of rain on the entire state over a period of several days, offering some hope that the long drought in the state might be coming to an end.
Unfortunately, January has been much the same as the last year, another month missing the rain. January is on track to be a record dry month for many areas of the state, leading to further depletion of the mountain snowpack that the entire state relies upon for its water supplies during dry seasons. In San Francisco, January 2015 is the first January since records began in 1850 with absolutely 0 rainfall at the official recording station at the airport.
Hope for an El NiƱo event that could have signaled a break in the drought has faded and the state seems en route to yet another record-dry winter despite the early-season rain. On top of the depletion of water supplies in California, the drought is impacting other areas, with snowpacks in Arizona below average and the demand from California beginning to wear down the supplies of other neighboring states.
-JBB
Image credit: LA Times Graphics http://lat.ms/1GtIYQ3
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For teaching: environmental science










