It's supposed to be 77 in San Diego today which is pretty warm for them too. When I lived there you might expect somewhere between 55 and 60 as an average high this time of year if I remember correctly. So, they are also at least 15 degrees above normal and we are about 20 degrees or more above normal for this time of year which is unusual.
The snowpack in the High Sierras is about 20% of normal or average for this time of year in January too. Even where I normally would be skiing now in Mt. Shasta has only 2 inches of snow the last time I checked. (Normal would be anything from 1 foot to 10 feet by this time of year depending upon how much snow fell by now and how much melted already).
So, it is possible farmers in many areas of California might not be given water rights to farm later this year unless we get more precipitation especially in the northern Half of California.
Here is a Mother Jones Drought map of the U.S. to show you just how severe the drought is in California which is the worst in history at present:
Check Out This Shocking Map of California's Drought
| Wed Jan. 8, 2014 12:44 PM GMT
While the country's appetite for extreme weather news was filled (to the brim) this week by the polar vortex, spare a thought for sunny California, where exceptionally dry weather is provoking fears of a long, tough summer ahead.
The state is facing what could be its worst drought in four decades. The chart above, released by the National Drought Mitigation Center on Monday, shows just how dry the soil is compared to the historical average: the lighter the color, the more "normal" the current wetness of the soil; the darker the color, the rarer. You can see large swathes of California are bone dry.
Nearly 90 percent of the state is suffering from severe or extreme drought. A statewide survey shows the current snowpack hovering below 20 percent of the average for this time of year. The AP is reporting that if the current trend holds, state water managers will only be able to deliver 5 percent of the water needed for more than 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of farmland.
A study published in Nature Climate Change at the end of last year found that droughts will probably set in more quickly and become more intense as climate change takes hold.
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The state is facing what could be its worst drought in four decades. The chart above, released by the National Drought Mitigation Center on Monday, shows just how dry the soil is compared to the historical average: the lighter the color, the more "normal" the current wetness of the soil; the darker the color, the rarer. You can see large swathes of California are bone dry.
Nearly 90 percent of the state is suffering from severe or extreme drought. A statewide survey shows the current snowpack hovering below 20 percent of the average for this time of year. The AP is reporting that if the current trend holds, state water managers will only be able to deliver 5 percent of the water needed for more than 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of farmland.
A study published in Nature Climate Change at the end of last year found that droughts will probably set in more quickly and become more intense as climate change takes hold.
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