California's Drought. (2013, transit, top)

[Dawn.Davenport]

I was just reading that both LA and SF have only received 3 inches of rain this year. Does anyone know the cause of this drought? I did some googling, but found nothing. Thanks!

[Fontucky]

Excellent screen name for someone from Balto.

[sunshine7793]

"Does anyone know the cause of this drought?" You mean like high winds deflecting off the Great Wall of China? It's called weather. It's been happening for billions of years and will go on for as long as we are on this speck.

[Dawn.Davenport]

Originally Posted by sunshine7793

"Does anyone know the cause of this drought?" You mean like high winds deflecting off the Great Wall of China? It's called weather. It's been happening for billions of years and will go on for as long as we are on this speck.

Thank you, Sunshine for your thoughtful response. Your wisdom has unlocked the mysteries of the world, and has given meaning to my life.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Dawn.Davenport

Thank you, Sunshine for your thoughtful response. Your wisdom has unlocked the mysteries of the world, and has given meaning to my life.

Oh that's nothing. She can be a real gem when she gets going.

Bayareahillbilly will give you a detailed in dept meteorological explanation but in short; Rainfall in California is erratic and varies unpredictably from year to year, sort of like Africa as like the African sanvanas, most of California is in a climate zone thats really a transition zone although between two different climates than the ones in Africa.

[Fontucky]

Erratic, as in this example for total precip for downtown L.A.:

2004-2005: 38"
2006-2007: 3.21"

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Erratic, as in this example for total precip for downtown L.A.:

2004-2005: 38"
2006-2007: 3.21"

38", one more inch than Seattle's average. 3.21", less than Phoenix AZ.

[Roaddog]

I don't understand all the things with the weather patterns and such but it sure has been dry, this year was the first I've had hay fever and it's drove me crazy. We need the snow and rain badly.

[BeauCharles]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Excellent screen name for someone from Balto.

I named my cat Francine Fishpaw.

[DCMann2]

From what I understand there's a high pressure ridge sitting north of Washington state that's diverting our normal winter storms around through Canada and into the top of the US, comepletely bypassing the west coast. 2013 is the driest year on record everywhere in California by a huge margin and things are not expected to get any better until March as the rainy season starts winding down. It's extremely worrying as our rivers are down, snow pack is only 11% of normal, our reservoirs are down, and vegetation isn't getting any water. People who are loving the warm, sunny winter days are blind to what's happening right now. It's possible the rain will come back next winter and I sure as hell hope it does, but if this persists for another year or two we're going to be in heaps of trouble. This is no joke.