Good News: No Area in NJ and Adjoining Regions in PA and DE Falls Within Any Drought Categories

Direct link to July 17th Facebook Post from the National Weather Service Philadelphia/Mt. Holly

California Drought - Feb 13 update

I want to followup on the post I wrote on February 11th about the ongoing droughts in California. Yesterday, February 13th, the NWS California Nevada River Forecast Center (CNRFC) posted videos (in three parts) with an update on the water supply conditions for California on February 13th, 2015. These videos may also be found on the CNRFC youtube channel, and their facebook page (posted Feb. 13th, 2015)

Note that you will see on the beginning of each video "do not use after 5PM PST on February 20th, 2015. What this means is that if you are happening on this page after February 20th, that the information presented in the videos will not be current. In that case current updates on the water supply conditions in California (updated daily) may be found on this CNRFC page on water resources.

The Latest Water Supply Conditions for California. Part 1: How Did We Get into a Drought


direct link to video


The Latest Water Supply Conditions for California. Part 2 - Reservoir Storage


direct link to video


The Latest Water Supply Conditions for California. Part 3 - Water Supply Projections


direct link to video

California droughts - quick update

The ongoing drought in California has been on my mind since my trip to San Diego before Thanksgiving, see the reflections that I wrote on December 1, 2014. And of course, the drought in California and elsewhere has implications for wildfire danger. I continue to follow the California drought and will be writing more on the California drought from time to time. I'd like to share a few resources with you concerning the drought.

The California Nevada River Forecast Center has a drought information page with lots of information about the drought, both nationally as well as focusing on California and Nevada. Near the top of the page you will see the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Map. The one below is dated February 3 2015 (released on February 5)

The California River Forecast Center has a presence on both Facebook and Twitter.

The California Department of Water Resources has a drought information page, also chock full of information on the drought including information about California's Water Year 2014 (October 1, 2013 to Septenmber 30, 2014) reporting on below normal snowpack from last winter and below normal rainfall.

I know that California has seen some more rainfall since the rains that came last December (go here and here for more information on one of the December rain storms in California). I also understand that the snowpack in the mountains of California is again below normal, see a January 30th article by Matt Weiser of the Sacromento Bee here.

I do know that there were more rains in areas of California a few days ago. I am in the process of finding more information to share with you on those rains, so stay tuned.

Reflections: Drought affecting Southern CA (including Mt. Wilson)

I was in southern California for the week of November 17th when I began my series on Mt. Wilson. As fate would have it, there were about 48 hours of Red Flag Warnings for areas east of where I was staying north of San Diego. If memory serves, the Red Flag Warnings included the Angeles National Forest where Mt. Wilson is located.

Before going to southern California I was aware of the severe drought that according to my my meteorologist friends in souther California has been ongoing for three years. As fate would have it, there is a rain storm expected this week in Southern California, and several of these storms will be needed to alleviate the drought in Southern California. I wonder what will happen if there is another year of extreme to exceptional drought?

As I write this, Southern California ranges from severe to exceptional drought depending on the exact location. I believe but am not certain that Mt. Wilson lies in an area that is in an exceptional drought (the most severe drought category). For information on the current status of droughts in the U.S. go to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

As you can guess while I was in San Diego County, I was very much aware of the drought and the fire danger. I did my best to use as little water as possible, but admit that some of my bad and wasteful water habits were a little hard to dispel. But I got better as the week wore on. I thought of my friends at the Mt. Wilson Observatory, wondering how they were making out. I suspect that everyone in southern California is in the same boat, more or less, as my friends at the Mount Wilson Observatory — too little water and serious water conservation efforts are under way.

I was and am scared for all of Southern California and all the other dry wildfire prone areas out west. I think that I am more scared now that I recently spent a week in Southern California. Whether or not there are active Red Flag Warnings, it won’t take that much for a wildfire to start that could, depending on winds and other factors, threaten Mount Wilson Observatory, Palomar Observatory and other residences, schools, research centers and businesses in Southern California. I also know that CAL FIRE and their sister wildland firefighting agencies (on the ground and in the air) are good at what they do. Stay safe everyone.

I am hoping for a wet winter in drought affected areas out west.