After California’s current series of storms, meteorologists are predicting a respite from the wet weather.
California recently experienced a historic atmospheric river that led to flooding in the entire state. Another such storm is slamming the state this week, and yet another could be on the way.
More than 112,000 customers were without power in California on the afternoon of March 22 after the intense storm brought heavy rains and hurricane-force winds.
An atmospheric river is a narrow corridor of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere. It differs from a traditional storm due to the increased amount of precipitation that it carries and the length of time that the resulting storm lasts.
A forecast released on March 16 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center shows that April’s outlook is drier than March’s and is leaning toward less rain and snow for California. The rainfall in April is expected to be below average.
Residential Impact
Now that 99 percent of the Bay Area and 64 percent of California is drought-free, the slowing down of the rain is a welcome sight for many. Michael Strader, a resident of San Luis Obispo County, is excited about the prospect of less rain.“My property was flooded. The rain and wind knocked down my electricity, and it took me several days to fix it myself, since I am not in PG&E’s service area,” Strader told The Epoch Times.
“I did not ask anyone to help me, because I live out in the country. Everyone else was dealing with the rain, so I didn’t want to bother them,” he said. “With two daughters to take care of, having no electricity was really hard, and it was really cold in the house.”
Strader added, “I am trying to make the best out of a bad situation.”
He said that it snowed at his residence.
State Reservoirs
Many of California’s reservoirs were nearing capacity even before the current storm hit. In some of these reservoirs, water is being let out at a fast rate to prevent future flooding.In Northern California, Lake Oroville has been releasing water at 35,000 cubic feet per second, according to The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In Central California, the two fullest reservoirs were Camanche and Millerton, at 81 percent and 91 percent capacity before the current storm.
According to the Department of Water Resources, Southern California had one nearly-full reservoir, Lake Cachuma, which was at 96 percent capacity.
Karla Nemeth from the Department of Water Resources stated: “Water management in California is complicated, and it’s made even more complex during these challenging climate conditions where we see swings between very, very dry; very, very wet; back to dry. We’re now back into wet.”
