Re: California's Drought

**sanderson** 10/16/2015, 2:16 am

Rain!!

Here in Fresno, water is trickling down the water spouts. Thunder and lightening. Rain clears the air of smog, and with enough rain, everything gets a good washing. Just yesterday, there was a lot of dust in the air from farmers plowing their fields. In Southern CA, mud slides. http://abc30.com/weather/dangerous-thunderstorms-trigger-mud-flow-in-la-county/1035597/

Report in on what is going on in your area of both northern and southern CA.

Yardslave 10/16/2015, 11:46 am

Night before last rain came down sporadically until sunrise, revealing just a few puddles, and some well-rinsed foliage. (Not enough to put a dent in the drought, but I'll take it.) Weatherman says a 30% chance of rain, but the clouds are continuing to pile up, so I have my fingers crossed. Anyone know what became of the cloud seeding that used to be popular until the 90's?

**sanderson** 10/16/2015, 2:45 pm

I just search cloud seeding. It seems it is still occurring. But, grey clouds with low atmospheric pressure are needed to get rain conditions.

Audrey, rain? The rest of you Californians?

**sanderson** 10/16/2015, 3:05 pm

Just got a Flash Flood warning on the TV for Fresno and Madera Counties. Shocked

Must be up in the mountains.

**sanderson** 10/16/2015, 3:19 pm

Mudslides on I-5 and highway 58 have cut off the main connections between No and So Cal.

PS If we had been a day and a half late returning home we would have been caught in this mess. Highway 58 is also a main connect between CA with Las Vegas, NV and AZ.

**kauairosina** 10/16/2015, 4:11 pm

Wow! Glad you didn't get caught in that Sanderson. Thanks for link. I had no idea. Best of luck to all you Californians with your gardens in this unsteady weather.

audrey.jeanne.roberts 10/17/2015, 10:45 am

We had thunderstorms and rain on Thursday night - I don't know how much rain we got but every drop is appreciated. The mountains and up at Hume Lake got quite a bit - I'm guessing that area where the Rough fire is/was is the biggest concern for flash flooding and mud slides.

Glad you were safe.

**sanderson** 10/17/2015, 3:14 pm

The new rain year started Oct 1. As measured at the Fresno Airport, 0.23" to date!

**Scorpio Rising** 10/17/2015, 6:38 pm

You guys needed that, but not the mudslides....

**Kelejan** 10/17/2015, 10:50 pm

Just seen some of the mudslides. Scary stuff. Seems like all or nothing with regard to rain.

**sanderson** 10/18/2015, 2:00 am

The drought means scant or dying vegetation. And a few vegetation stripping wild fires and you have nothing to hold the soil in place.

**AtlantaMarie** 10/18/2015, 9:50 am

Was that y'all I caught on the news last night? All I heard was "I-5."

Scary!!!

**sanderson** 10/18/2015, 2:09 pm

I-5 is the "95" of the West Coast, from Mexico through CA, OR and WA, to Canada. Highway 58 is one of the east-west highways that connects the Las Vegas and AZ traffic into CA and drops them into the southern end of my San Joaquin Valley (the route we took on Wed). There are other freeways and highways south of 58 that deliver traffic from your East to the greater Los Angeles and San Diego in Southern CA. I-5 connects southern CA with my SJ Valley. So, if we had been 36 hours late on our vacation, we (and all the other traffic that were able to turn off 58 in time) would have taken an extra day to travel a few 100s of miles out of the way. Imagine all the merchandise and produce stuck in the mud slides in CA. $$ on overtime and delivery vehicles.

Marc Iverson 10/18/2015, 2:19 pm

I heard on the radio the other day that some forest floors become waterproof, leading to worse flooding because water won't soak in; it'll travel downhill instead, or won't spread evenly. Supposedly this is because some plant oils continuously drop onto the soil, and if there's not enough rain to wash them away, they accumulate and eventually block water from the soil. So drought can cause more drought, and flooding/mudslides when the rain does eventually come.

**AtlantaMarie** 10/22/2015, 7:57 am

That would also explain why fire is such a necessary part of forest management. It would burn away the sap and allow the ground to regenerate.

**sanderson** 11/2/2015, 2:47 pm

Today is rain for many parts of CA, give or take a day one way or the other. Snow may be expected between 5-8,000 foot elevation. I am guessing that today's rain will not have a major impact on mudslides.

Saw this in the Sunday Fresno Bee: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article42032502.html How you you reply to the blogger at the bottom of the article?

This online for the Modesto Bee: http://www.modbee.com/news/article42201831.html The comment at the bottom is so true! bounce

Yardslave 11/2/2015, 3:37 pm

I can't believe it! Rain arrived right on schedule and left on schedule. It was so nice to hear the raindrops on the roof. Make me an optimist about the accuracy of weather prediction.

**sanderson** 11/2/2015, 3:41 pm

Love the sound of rain. Cat knows what to do on a rainy day, so I think I will join her. California's Drought - Page 9 Sweeti10

Yardslave 11/2/2015, 4:36 pm

My dog is so spoiled that before it rains we pick up a roll of sod from the Home Despot and leave it in the garage so "we" don't have any accidents in the house.The dog would otherwise go outside, do a prompt u-turn, and use an unoccupied room to surprise us with a smelly "dog rocket' and a liberal sprinkling of pee on the side. Evil or Very Mad

**sanderson** 11/2/2015, 8:07 pm

One of the benefits of having a cat. Wink

**sanderson** 11/4/2015, 3:14 pm

This says it all: California's Drought - Page 9 Cartoo10

audrey.jeanne.roberts 11/5/2015, 10:56 am

Oh yeah! So true.

I had to laugh at my sweet hubby - one half a day of heavy rain this week and he was whining about how gloomy it was and we aren't living in Seattle! Californians Razz

**sanderson** 11/10/2015, 4:25 am

We had a nice afternoon and evening rain. Nap was heavenly.
California's Drought - Page 9 Cartoo13

**sanderson** 11/11/2015, 5:07 pm

We only got 0.18" of rain, but it was heavenly.

Yardslave 11/11/2015, 5:58 pm

We got 1.32" Sunday night and Monday morning. There is actual green grass sprouting up through the brown, dried stubble in the field in front of my house- even a few golden poppies and lupine blossoming-missed those last year!

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