Bad news from California


Mountain Ron

Mountain Ron

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Big Bend area of north Florida
We had 1 day of rain here since spring 2011. That is very bad news. If we don't get some rain and snow up in the mountains there will be severe water shortages this summer. That sucks for the farmers who grow a lot of the food this country eats. The only plus side is I can go up to 11,000 feet and there is no snow anywhere. Usually there is at least 20 to 30 feet up that high. Weird weather.
 
We have had a weird winter here as well, no snow yet. But like twin said they are calling for snow all next week do to a shift in the jet stream or something. I for one will be glad to get some snow as I like snowshoeing.
 
These illustrate the problem pretty well. These are color-coded snow depth images from NOAA.

Jan. 13, 2012:

nsm_depth_2012011305_National.jpg


Jan. 13, 2011:

nsm_depth_2011011305_National.jpg
 
rabbithutch said:
Colorado has the same drought and lack of snow pack. They are predicting large percentages of farm acreage will not be planted there this year because the reservoirs will not have the water needed to grow crops.
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We dont normally see the big snow dumps until February through April. It's too early to tell. Most of our "drought" actually comes from a 1922 legal compact with California where we give them most of our water anyway. :34:






:9:
 
yep none of the mountains surrounding here have any snow on them... they usually do by now.... prays sent your way Mountain Ron
 
Well, this is the NWS forecast short for next week up in the northern rockies... yikes.


Widespread snowfall will return to the Northern Rockies next week. Heavy mountain snow is expected with total accumulation next week possibly between 4 and 8 FEET of new snow! Travel throughout the mountains and over passes will be significantly impacted by persistent heavy snow with potentially some blowing and drifting of snow. Additionally there is growing confidence that many valley locations could see accumulating snowfall next week which at times may affect travel, especially from Wednesday through the end of next week. Stay tuned for further details regarding this major change in the weather.
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rabbithutch said:
Yep! I'm aware of that - although I don't now and never have lived in Colorado. I was amazed when I learned that it is illegal in Colorado to impound run off from rain or melting snow for one's personal use. Is that still the case?
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It is indeed. I cant have a rain barrel in my yard because Californians might have to cut back on watering their lawns. :54:
 
Yep I can look up at Lassen peak and there is no snow at all.

Usually by now the roads are closed up there, under 8 feet of snow.

Vegetation will suffer, which means less food for critters. Old Maa nature is going to ahve a rough summer.
 
My first thought.. with a small amount of rain in 2011 and same with snowpack over the winter, increased likelihood of severe wildfires.
 
Agile Woodsman said:
It's really illegal? And is that the justification they give? :6:
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It is really truly illegal, though enforcement lacks. The 1922 agreement wasnt about lawns per se, but thats no small part of what the water gets used for. Technically the agreement also serves Arizona and Nevada - Cant have those fountains in the Desert run dry either!

It boils down to the use of the Colorado River. The river and tributaries run from the Mtn States through the upper great basin, down into the lower basin. The lower basin, despite being a freaking desert, is highly populated. The lower basin areas wanted to ensure they would have enough water being fed down the CO River to meet their needs, and the upper basin states were populated at a low enough level at the time that water rights could be ceded. 90 years later, the gods arent making any more water and the agreement is still enforced. High water usage from the lower river, combined with damming and the extensive evaporation from that, has made it so that the river often dries up before even making it to the sea.
 
Yeah it's a mess Jennifer! I don't live in the part of CA that relies on outside water but I can say this...

Around here we basically don't get rain in the summer. And the temp can hover around 100 degrees and spike at 115. So we have these idiots that water the cr@p out of their lawns to where, and I'm not kidding, the street and sidewalk in front of their houses is wet all summer long, water runs down the gutter/curbs and into the sewer. A few guys water so much algae grows on the damn sidewalk, in summer in 100 degree heat!

See, these people don't care, sadly.
 
There is one way to use these conditions to our advantage. Naturally we will still be getting food at the market, but what about using this as an incentive to (where possible) learn more about the plants around us that we can harvest for home consumption. Depending on where one lives, some may have a whole forest or fields around that yield what ma nature put there and we have forgotten. Even the dandilions give us greens that work in a salad or stew. Just more Bushcraft to know.
 
Agile Woodsman said:
Yep I can look up at Lassen peak and there is no snow at all.

Usually by now the roads are closed up there, under 8 feet of snow.

Vegetation will suffer, which means less food for critters. Old Maa nature is going to ahve a rough summer.
Click to expand...

I love Lassen. Used to date a girl who was from Westwood and we would go back to her hometown and hike/camp that area often.

We have some snow in our mountains but not nearly as much as usual.
 
It has been storming for a few days now. We had thunder last night. It's needed.... all of our grasslands have been dry and dead. Summer like fire danger in January is a bit weird.
I guess nature is trying to balance itself out after having snow packs last through July last year.
 
Rained lightly most of the daylight hours here in Socal today. Got soaked on my bicycle, riding 4 miles at 9am. The creek is roaring behind my house.
 
Got our first real snow of the year yesterday and last night. About 4 inches on the ground this morning. Shot some video today and maybe I'll get it posted tomorrow. Rain in the forecast which will probably melt it off. Hope it piles up in the high county. Our snow pack is way behind.
 
It rained and blew hard enough Saturday night to send water leaking in through the gap around my back door. That has never happened before. My neighbor also had a window break.

But yeah, it looks like we are in for another long dry spell.
 
Monday it rained. Tuesday I wore 3 shirts to keep warm on my bicycle.
Today it was hot as blazes and beautiful. I only wore a t-shirt, it was like summer.
 
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