While
El Niño's impact has been felt in other areas of the world, its impact on Southern California has been trivial thus far. Northern California has received somewhat higher rainfall this year and the snow levels in the north, the biggest contributor to fighting drought in the future, are good but those storms have been fueled by weather conditions in the northern Pacific, not
El Niño storms from the west. Only the storms during the first week of January here were fueled by
El Niño and, in my particular location, those brought just 1.25 inches of rain. As was true in prior years, a ridge of high pressure has prevented any significant rain from reaching us but the
forecasters are still predicting that El Niño will come through, although perhaps not until February or March.
The best news at present is that we did get a little rain this week thanks to a storm out of Northern California. We were given a 20-30% chance of receiving up to 1/10th of an inch of rain but, in my area, we got a little over three times that much. My plants and I are happy, at least for the moment.
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| Rain drops on Arthropodium cirratum |
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| Leucadendron 'Pisa' |
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| Stipa tenuissima |
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| Even Agave 'Jaws' looks good washed clean by the rain |
The rainwater I've drained from my collection tanks has been replenished and I refilled my garden trugs twice before the latest storm moved on.
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| This is literally a drop in the bucket but my 50, 160 and 265-gallon tanks are also full |
I'm grateful for the 475 gallons of water I've got stored but hauling it around my half-acre property is hard work so I hope
El Niño does come through next month, dropping rain at a measured pace rather than all at once. Our rain totals in SoCal remain significantly below "normal."
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| The year-to-date total reflects the rain received since the rainy season began on October 1st 2015 |
All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
