Prediction of wet winter waning
By Steve Scauzillo, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Not too long ago in this season of California’s massive and extended drought, climate experts saw a small glimmer of hope on the horizon: Predictions for a wet El Niño season coming in the winter that would bring badly needed rain and relief to a parched state.
Now that glimmer is fading fast, and the drought has gotten even worse.
A minimal amount of snow remains on Mount Tallac. Photo/LTN
One hundred percent of California is in a severe drought, 77 percent is in an extreme drought and 33 percent is in an exceptional drought, according to a report released last week by the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb.
“Those are remarkable numbers,” said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist and the center’s monitoring program leader.
The drought monitoring team in Lincoln has never seen an exceptional drought since it started keeping detailed data in 1999. The D4 category — a foreboding maroon color on a California drought map — extends from Sacramento and the Bay Area through the Central Valley, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
fight the drought, now in its third year, Svoboda said.
Predictions for a much-anticipated wet 2014-15 winter are waning.