Though it is too early to determine if we will have a drought year, the dryness of this month is troublesome, but many past years have seen record rainfalls in late winter.
If we do have a drought, the need for additional water storage will be reinforced.
Capital heads for a record low rainfall
By Edie Lau - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Thursday, January 25, 2007
One look at Brad Gay's brown potted plumeria tells the story of Sacramento weather, January 2007.
"A lot of the leaves are just toast right now," said Gay ruefully, recalling summer days when his yard is perfumed by tropical plants.
Weeks of unusually cold and clear weather have brought the city to the verge of a record: driest January in more than 100 years.
Only 0.07 inches of rain have fallen this month in downtown Sacramento, just a teardrop of the normal 4.18 inches for the month. Record low rainfall for the month is 0.15 inches, set in 1889.
"Our record is in serious jeopardy," said Jim Mathews, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Sacramento office.
Only the slightest chance of rain is in the forecast for the next six days. Mathews said a storm brewing 300 to 400 miles off the Pacific coast is "bumping into this atmospheric road block -- the (high pressure) ridge over us -- and weakening significantly."
In other words, it might rain a little this weekend but probably won't.
What gives?
Weather scientists say the jet stream that normally delivers winter moisture to California is taking a big detour. Its path has meant drenching rain and snow for Washington and Oregon, and snowstorm after snowstorm after snowstorm in Colorado.
