What's your weather like?

[Dan M.]

We got down into the upper 30s last night! Most people couldn't wear shorts!

[Deanie]

What I do not understand is when it's freezing cold and I see someone wearing shorts and a coat. What's up with that? He/she wants to keep the chest warm but doesn't care if the legs freeze off??

[4AMNTN]

Deanie

[Dan M.]

What I do not understand is when it's freezing cold and I see someone wearing shorts and a coat. What's up with that? He/she wants to keep the chest warm but doesn't care if the legs freeze off??

I pass a high school on my way to work every morning and it's so funny to watch the kids crossing at the crosswalk wearing t-shirts (or sleeveless tops!!??!!), shorts (really short shorts!!??!!), and flip-flops and trying to not look like they are freezing.

[momckee]

It will be a while before it is shorts weather here!

[4AMNTN]

In the 70's next week or so. I guess spring "sprung"????

[momckee]

Sort of rainy and dull but not cold, most of the snow has gone, lovely to see the grass again.

[4AMNTN]

Well, I knew it was coming. Poor buttercups.....

[Gismo]

Weird weather for us, mid into the 70's and raining today.
The grass has come alive during the past week and will need cut soon

[momckee]

All th snow has gone but still cool which is normal for this time of the year.

[4AMNTN]

pretty today low 60's rain next two days then a REALLY nice weekend. Maybe finally wash the rocket. Haven't felt like it this month.

[Dan M.]

We got some rain overnight, and the prospect of more later in the week. We'll take it! We're still not even within 25% of what is considered normal for this time of year in our area.

[momckee]

How would you like to live in Cape Town Dan, they are running out of water and it's rationed by the gallon - their resevoir isn't getting replenished, they almost need flood conditions I would think to get the water supply up again. I wonder how Vince is doing, he doesn't live in Cape Town but I know he and his wife like visiting there. Must e-mail and see how the rest of South Africa is managing, but glad that you are getting some rain and I hope it's enough for the garden etc.

[4AMNTN]

I was 9 when I first visited my Granddad in CA. They lived in Antioch which is near? Oakland, San Fran....anyway. CA was on a water restriction even then - 1976. My 9 year old mind that that ALL of CA was rich. I knew my Granddad was well off, well ... anyway THEY were watching the water usage then. Not flushing every time, had gallons of water around the house, brushing our teeth, washing our hair, showers.... it was ALL so different. My word! It's 42 years later NO ONE CAN FIGURE THIS CRISIS OUT?

[Dan M.]

It's 42 years later NO ONE CAN FIGURE THIS CRISIS OUT?

The drought in the 70s wasn't as persistent. I'm not sure if it was a precursor to what we're seeing now, or what. We have a better understanding of weather now than we did back then, so it's hard to know. At present though, it's mostly two separate problems. One is the changing weather patterns (yes, climate change). For the last 10 or 15 years, all winter long we have a ridge of high pressure parked over the southwest corner of the US that causes the jet stream to go north of us and it takes the rain with it. Sometimes it will weaken and let some rain in, but this has been the pattern 80% of the time now during our rainy season. The other problem is how to use what water we DO get. A lot of water that flows down from the Sierra snowpack used to be diverted to agriculture as well as cities. Due to increased loss of habitat, there are a number of threatened species of fish, birds, mollusks, etc. that depend on water reaching the coastal deltas areas or the valleys on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains, so much of the water that used to go to the farms and cities is not being diverted in order to better maintain those coastal habitats and lakes (like Mono Lake) and rivers east of the Sierra, which feed lakes and reservoirs in Nevada. So cities get the water restrictions (which is fine with me--we are so wasteful as a society) but the bad thing is the farmers are losing the water. They can't grow crops like they used to, and the transition to other crops or different ways of farming has crippled agriculture, which affects a bunch of jobs here, from pickers and harvesting, trucking and railroads, down to the guy in the produce department at the market, and prices of produce and dairy go up.