Remember when Southern California had green hills? (Orange, Chino: live, farms)

[BuildingsR' Us]

Is it me or have our hills not seen green in 5 years? Every hill looks dried up and brown now. Even the San Gabriel Mountains that soar 10,000 feet up had alittle green back in the days. The greenest hills i knew were in Chino Hills, Ventura County, and Malibu.

[kwong7]

It's not just SoCal, the hills in NorCal have withered as well. I'm betting that we'll get more than average rain by this time next year; I really think El Nino will happen between January and May 2016. The issue will be whether or not we can capture the water and avoid the landslides. So much of Orange County was developed after 1994 (our last El Nino), so this could be very bad before it gets better.

[saibot]

The hills around us greened up a little last spring, but it didn't last long. There's certainly been less green than usual for the last few years, but my recollection over the decades is that the landscape is universally brown in SoCal from July through December.

[murfslaw]

Originally Posted by kwong7

It's not just SoCal, the hills in NorCal have withered as well. I'm betting that we'll get more than average rain by this time next year; I really think El Nino will happen between January and May 2016. The issue will be whether or not we can capture the water and avoid the landslides. So much of Orange County was developed after 1994 (our last El Nino), so this could be very bad before it gets better.

The last El Nino was 1997-1998

[jim9251]

Heck I remember not only green hills, but acres and acres of orange groves, dairy farms, and ranches.

[katie45]

Originally Posted by jim9251

Heck I remember not only green hills, but acres and acres of orange groves, dairy farms, and ranches.

Same here! Our area had orange, lemon, and walnut orchards, avocado tree farms and acres of flower growers. And after the winter rains our hills would come alive with wild flowers, and the California Poppys were abundant.

[NativeOrange]

Originally Posted by murfslaw

The last El Nino was 1997-1998

No. The last strong El Niño was then. We've had 2-3 weak to moderate El Niños since then. The last one being 2009/2010.

[RoaminRebel]

Originally Posted by katie45

Same here! Our area had orange, lemon, and walnut orchards, avocado tree farms and acres of flower growers. And after the winter rains our hills would come alive with wild flowers, and the California Poppys were abundant.

I know a few places around that are still like this! I'm not telling where though..

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Looking pretty green now in the areas of grass due to rains thus far.

Areas of oak woodland / chaparral never really turn dayglow green like grassland.

Such areas are generally dark green or even sort of gray.