Saturday, January 30, 2010
Stratospheric Water Vapor is a Global Warming Wild Card
FROM: NOAA
A 10 percent drop in water vapor ten miles above Earth’s surface has had a big impact on global warming, say researchers in a study published online January 28 in the journal Science. The findings might help explain why global surface temperatures have not risen as fast in the last ten years as they did in the 1980s and 1990s.
Observations from satellites and balloons show that stratospheric water vapor has had its ups and downs lately, increasing in the 1980s and 1990s, and then dropping after 2000. The authors show that these changes occurred precisely in a narrow altitude region of the stratosphere where they would have the biggest effects on climate.
Water vapor is a highly variable gas and has long been recognized as an important player in the cocktail of greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide, methane, halocarbons, nitrous oxide, and others—that affect climate.
“Current climate models do a remarkable job on water vapor near the surface. But this is different — it’s a thin wedge of the upper atmosphere that packs a wallop from one decade to the next in a way we didn’t expect,” says Susan Solomon, NOAA senior scientist and first author of the study.
Since 2000, water vapor in the stratosphere decreased by about 10 percent. The reason for the recent decline in water vapor is unknown. The new study used calculations and models to show that the cooling from this change caused surface temperatures to increase about 25 percent more slowly than they would have otherwise, due only to the increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
An increase in stratospheric water vapor in the 1990s likely had the opposite effect of increasing the rate of warming observed during that time by about 30 percent, the authors found.
The stratosphere is a region of the atmosphere from about eight to 30 miles above the Earth’s surface. Water vapor enters the stratosphere mainly as air rises in the tropics. Previous studies suggested that stratospheric water vapor might contribute significantly to climate change. The new study is the first to relate water vapor in the stratosphere to the specific variations in warming of the past few decades.
Authors of the study are Susan Solomon, Karen Rosenlof, Robert Portmann, and John Daniel, all of the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) in Boulder, Colo.; Sean Davis and Todd Sanford, NOAA/ESRL and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado; and Gian-Kasper Plattner, University of Bern, Switzerland.
A 10 percent drop in water vapor ten miles above Earth’s surface has had a big impact on global warming, say researchers in a study published online January 28 in the journal Science. The findings might help explain why global surface temperatures have not risen as fast in the last ten years as they did in the 1980s and 1990s.
Observations from satellites and balloons show that stratospheric water vapor has had its ups and downs lately, increasing in the 1980s and 1990s, and then dropping after 2000. The authors show that these changes occurred precisely in a narrow altitude region of the stratosphere where they would have the biggest effects on climate.
Water vapor is a highly variable gas and has long been recognized as an important player in the cocktail of greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide, methane, halocarbons, nitrous oxide, and others—that affect climate.
“Current climate models do a remarkable job on water vapor near the surface. But this is different — it’s a thin wedge of the upper atmosphere that packs a wallop from one decade to the next in a way we didn’t expect,” says Susan Solomon, NOAA senior scientist and first author of the study.
Since 2000, water vapor in the stratosphere decreased by about 10 percent. The reason for the recent decline in water vapor is unknown. The new study used calculations and models to show that the cooling from this change caused surface temperatures to increase about 25 percent more slowly than they would have otherwise, due only to the increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
An increase in stratospheric water vapor in the 1990s likely had the opposite effect of increasing the rate of warming observed during that time by about 30 percent, the authors found.
The stratosphere is a region of the atmosphere from about eight to 30 miles above the Earth’s surface. Water vapor enters the stratosphere mainly as air rises in the tropics. Previous studies suggested that stratospheric water vapor might contribute significantly to climate change. The new study is the first to relate water vapor in the stratosphere to the specific variations in warming of the past few decades.
Authors of the study are Susan Solomon, Karen Rosenlof, Robert Portmann, and John Daniel, all of the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) in Boulder, Colo.; Sean Davis and Todd Sanford, NOAA/ESRL and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado; and Gian-Kasper Plattner, University of Bern, Switzerland.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Weekly Drought Monitor - as of January 26th, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Emissions of Potent Greenhouse Gas Increase Despite Reduction Efforts
FROM: NOAA
Despite a decade of efforts worldwide to curb its release into the atmosphere, NOAA and university scientists have measured increased emissions of a greenhouse gas that is thousands of times more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide and persists in the atmosphere for nearly 300 years.
The substance HFC-23, or trifluoromethane, is a byproduct of chlorodifluoromethane, or HCFC-22, a refrigerant in air conditioners and refrigerators and a starting material for producing heat and chemical-resistant products, cables and coatings.
“Without the international effort to reduce emissions of HFC-23, its emissions and atmospheric abundance would have been even larger in recent years,” said Stephen Montzka, a NOAA research chemist and lead author of the collaborative study between NOAA and university scientists. “As it was, emissions in 2006-2008 were about 50 percent above the 1990-2000 average.”
HFC-23 is one of the most potent greenhouse gases emitted as a result of human activities. Over a 100-year time span, one pound of HFC-23 released into the atmosphere traps heat 14,800 times more effectively than one pound of carbon dioxide. To date, the total accumulated emission of HFC-23 is small relative to other greenhouse gases, making this gas a minor (less than one percent) contributor to climate change at present.
Because HFC-23 is such a potent greenhouse gas, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has facilitated the destruction of substantial quantities of HFC-23 in developing countries since 2003. The study by Montzka and colleagues shows for the first time that even with these actions HFC-23 emissions from developing countries remained substantial compared to recent years.
The Montreal Protocol, which is the international agreement that phases out ozone-depleting substances, requires the end of HCFC-22 production by 2020 in developed countries and 2030 in developing counties for uses that result in the HCFC-22 escaping to the atmosphere. This Protocol does not restrict HCFC-22 production in the synthesis of fluoropolymers or the HFC-23 that is co-produced. The future atmospheric abundance of HFC-23 and its contribution to future climate change depends on amounts of HCFC-22 produced and the success of programs to reduce emissions of the co-generated HFC-23.
Scientists measured air collected from above the snow surface and down to 380 feet below the snow surface during field studies in Antarctica in 2001, 2005 and 2009. Using these results, they were able to determine how amounts of HFC-23 and other gases affecting climate and stratospheric ozone have changed in the recent past. The first published measurements of HFC-23 appeared in 1998 but this was the first time scientists examined how HFC-23 emissions have changed since 1996, particularly in developing nations and since the UNFCCC’s projects to reduce emissions began in 2003.
Monitoring changes in the atmospheric abundance of greenhouse gases and assessing their implications are essential for predicting and understanding climate change and represent important aspects of NOAA’s climate services. This study was supported in part by NOAA’s Climate Program Office and the National Science Foundation.
Despite a decade of efforts worldwide to curb its release into the atmosphere, NOAA and university scientists have measured increased emissions of a greenhouse gas that is thousands of times more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide and persists in the atmosphere for nearly 300 years.
The substance HFC-23, or trifluoromethane, is a byproduct of chlorodifluoromethane, or HCFC-22, a refrigerant in air conditioners and refrigerators and a starting material for producing heat and chemical-resistant products, cables and coatings.
“Without the international effort to reduce emissions of HFC-23, its emissions and atmospheric abundance would have been even larger in recent years,” said Stephen Montzka, a NOAA research chemist and lead author of the collaborative study between NOAA and university scientists. “As it was, emissions in 2006-2008 were about 50 percent above the 1990-2000 average.”
HFC-23 is one of the most potent greenhouse gases emitted as a result of human activities. Over a 100-year time span, one pound of HFC-23 released into the atmosphere traps heat 14,800 times more effectively than one pound of carbon dioxide. To date, the total accumulated emission of HFC-23 is small relative to other greenhouse gases, making this gas a minor (less than one percent) contributor to climate change at present.
Because HFC-23 is such a potent greenhouse gas, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has facilitated the destruction of substantial quantities of HFC-23 in developing countries since 2003. The study by Montzka and colleagues shows for the first time that even with these actions HFC-23 emissions from developing countries remained substantial compared to recent years.
The Montreal Protocol, which is the international agreement that phases out ozone-depleting substances, requires the end of HCFC-22 production by 2020 in developed countries and 2030 in developing counties for uses that result in the HCFC-22 escaping to the atmosphere. This Protocol does not restrict HCFC-22 production in the synthesis of fluoropolymers or the HFC-23 that is co-produced. The future atmospheric abundance of HFC-23 and its contribution to future climate change depends on amounts of HCFC-22 produced and the success of programs to reduce emissions of the co-generated HFC-23.
Scientists measured air collected from above the snow surface and down to 380 feet below the snow surface during field studies in Antarctica in 2001, 2005 and 2009. Using these results, they were able to determine how amounts of HFC-23 and other gases affecting climate and stratospheric ozone have changed in the recent past. The first published measurements of HFC-23 appeared in 1998 but this was the first time scientists examined how HFC-23 emissions have changed since 1996, particularly in developing nations and since the UNFCCC’s projects to reduce emissions began in 2003.
Monitoring changes in the atmospheric abundance of greenhouse gases and assessing their implications are essential for predicting and understanding climate change and represent important aspects of NOAA’s climate services. This study was supported in part by NOAA’s Climate Program Office and the National Science Foundation.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Desert Mountain Snow PART II
Monday, January 25, 2010
Is California's drought ending? It's too soon to say
FROM: Los Angeles Times
By Bettina Boxall
It's too early to know if California's three-year drought is ending, but the train of storms that plowed into California last week pushed the critical mountain snowpack to slightly above normal levels and sent water rushing into half-empty reservoirs.
At his office at Shasta Dam north of Redding, Brian Person watched the biggest reservoir in the state rise 4 to 5 feet a day on Wednesday and Thursday.
"Particularly following the abysmal hydrology of '07, '08 and '09, this is a fantastic experience," said Person, an area manager with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
In the Sierra Nevada, the storms that rode in on howling jet-stream winds dumped 4 to 6 feet of snow and boosted the water content of the snowpack by 20%.
"That's no shabby thing," said Maury Roos, the state's chief hydrologist.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center say a strong El Niño has developed in the Pacific Ocean and will continue into the spring, raising hopes for more of the same.
"There are no guarantees," said center deputy director Mike Halpert. "But things should be favorable . . . during the next couple of months for more storms moving through the jet stream and impacting California.
"These are the types of winters that are most beneficial to the water supply."
El Niño is a warming of sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific that influences weather patterns, often sending storms to California.
But Bill Patzert, a climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory -- who has disagreed with federal forecasters in the past -- believes the current El Niño is a modest one and predicts another year of below average precipitation.
Patzert argues that the macho El Niños that drench the state and push rainfall amounts to record levels don't occur often.
"The impact of El Niño I think is exaggerated," he said.
The drought is not the worst the state has experienced in the modern era, but as a three-year period, it ranks in the driest 10%, Roos said.
The precipitation shortfalls have been bad enough to prompt water restrictions for urban customers around the state and to cut irrigation deliveries to agriculture, forcing some farmers to pump groundwater and leave fields unplanted.
In the last century, Roos said, California experienced two droughts that lasted six years: 1929 through 1934 and 1987 through 1992.
A drought in the late 1940s lasted four years.
But more often, he added, "In three years it's done -- and the year that ends it turns out to be a wet one.
"We can't say that this is going to be wet yet. But I'm optimistic that it will at least be above average."
As of Friday, the snowpack in the Northern Sierra was 117% of average for this time of year. Statewide it was 107% of the norm. The snowpack season runs from December through March.
Shasta Dam's reservoir, fed by the northern end of the Sacramento River and its tributaries, rose 24 feet in 10 days.
But until the state's major reservoirs return to normal levels, the drought is not over.
"We've got quite a hole in statewide storage," Roos said.
Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys program, is keeping his fingers crossed for the rest of the winter. Forecasts, he said, are just that.
"Until it's on the ground, I've seen too many situations where things just don't pan out."
By Bettina Boxall
It's too early to know if California's three-year drought is ending, but the train of storms that plowed into California last week pushed the critical mountain snowpack to slightly above normal levels and sent water rushing into half-empty reservoirs.
At his office at Shasta Dam north of Redding, Brian Person watched the biggest reservoir in the state rise 4 to 5 feet a day on Wednesday and Thursday.
"Particularly following the abysmal hydrology of '07, '08 and '09, this is a fantastic experience," said Person, an area manager with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
In the Sierra Nevada, the storms that rode in on howling jet-stream winds dumped 4 to 6 feet of snow and boosted the water content of the snowpack by 20%.
"That's no shabby thing," said Maury Roos, the state's chief hydrologist.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center say a strong El Niño has developed in the Pacific Ocean and will continue into the spring, raising hopes for more of the same.
"There are no guarantees," said center deputy director Mike Halpert. "But things should be favorable . . . during the next couple of months for more storms moving through the jet stream and impacting California.
"These are the types of winters that are most beneficial to the water supply."
El Niño is a warming of sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific that influences weather patterns, often sending storms to California.
But Bill Patzert, a climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory -- who has disagreed with federal forecasters in the past -- believes the current El Niño is a modest one and predicts another year of below average precipitation.
Patzert argues that the macho El Niños that drench the state and push rainfall amounts to record levels don't occur often.
"The impact of El Niño I think is exaggerated," he said.
The drought is not the worst the state has experienced in the modern era, but as a three-year period, it ranks in the driest 10%, Roos said.
The precipitation shortfalls have been bad enough to prompt water restrictions for urban customers around the state and to cut irrigation deliveries to agriculture, forcing some farmers to pump groundwater and leave fields unplanted.
In the last century, Roos said, California experienced two droughts that lasted six years: 1929 through 1934 and 1987 through 1992.
A drought in the late 1940s lasted four years.
But more often, he added, "In three years it's done -- and the year that ends it turns out to be a wet one.
"We can't say that this is going to be wet yet. But I'm optimistic that it will at least be above average."
As of Friday, the snowpack in the Northern Sierra was 117% of average for this time of year. Statewide it was 107% of the norm. The snowpack season runs from December through March.
Shasta Dam's reservoir, fed by the northern end of the Sacramento River and its tributaries, rose 24 feet in 10 days.
But until the state's major reservoirs return to normal levels, the drought is not over.
"We've got quite a hole in statewide storage," Roos said.
Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys program, is keeping his fingers crossed for the rest of the winter. Forecasts, he said, are just that.
"Until it's on the ground, I've seen too many situations where things just don't pan out."
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Snow-Capped Desert Mountains
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tsunamis May Telegraph Their Presence
FROM: NOAA
Tsunamis send electric signals through the ocean that appear to be sensed by the vast network of communication cables on the seabed, according to a new study led by Manoj Nair of the University of Colorado and NOAA.
Nair and his colleagues used computer models to estimate the size of an electric field created by the force of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as it traveled over major submarine cables. Salty seawater, a good conductor of electricity, generates an electric field as it moves through Earth’s geomagnetic field.
“We estimate that the 2004 tsunami induced voltages of about 500 millivolts (mV) in the cables. This is very small compared to a 9-volt battery, but still large enough to be distinguished from background noise on a magnetically quiet day,” Nair said. “By monitoring voltages across this network of ocean cables, we may be able to enhance the current tsunami warning system.”
But Nair cautioned that much research is still needed to effectively isolate the tsunami signals from other sources, such as Earth’s upper atmosphere, or ionosphere, whose signals can reach 100 mV. One millivolt is equivalent to one-thousandth of a volt.
Tsunamis are created by a large displacement of water resulting from earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and even meteors hitting the ocean. Vessels far out at sea may not notice the waves passing underneath at the speed of a jetliner, because the wave heights are very small in the deep ocean. This makes their detection and monitoring a challenge.
The current tsunami warning system relies on a global seismometer network to detect earthquakes that may indicate that a tsunami has formed. Deep-ocean pressure sensors and coastal tide gauges are the only tools available to detect and measure an actual tsunami. The electric current induced in submarine cables may provide an additional way to confirm and track a tsunami.
Since the 2004 tsunami, the international warning system has expanded to include 47 deep-ocean pressure sensors, most of them in the Pacific area. After an investment of more than $100 million and strong support of Congress, NOAA has made tsunami warnings and education a priority. Within the United States, real-time data from these deep ocean sensors are used to forecast the impact of the tsunami on U.S. shorelines.
Co-authors are Alexei Kuvshinov of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, S. Neetu of the National Institute of Oceanography, India and T. Harinarayana of the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India. Nair is also associated with NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science at the University of Colorado.
The study will appear in the February edition of the journal Earth, Planets and Space.
Tsunamis send electric signals through the ocean that appear to be sensed by the vast network of communication cables on the seabed, according to a new study led by Manoj Nair of the University of Colorado and NOAA.
Nair and his colleagues used computer models to estimate the size of an electric field created by the force of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as it traveled over major submarine cables. Salty seawater, a good conductor of electricity, generates an electric field as it moves through Earth’s geomagnetic field.
“We estimate that the 2004 tsunami induced voltages of about 500 millivolts (mV) in the cables. This is very small compared to a 9-volt battery, but still large enough to be distinguished from background noise on a magnetically quiet day,” Nair said. “By monitoring voltages across this network of ocean cables, we may be able to enhance the current tsunami warning system.”
But Nair cautioned that much research is still needed to effectively isolate the tsunami signals from other sources, such as Earth’s upper atmosphere, or ionosphere, whose signals can reach 100 mV. One millivolt is equivalent to one-thousandth of a volt.
Tsunamis are created by a large displacement of water resulting from earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and even meteors hitting the ocean. Vessels far out at sea may not notice the waves passing underneath at the speed of a jetliner, because the wave heights are very small in the deep ocean. This makes their detection and monitoring a challenge.
The current tsunami warning system relies on a global seismometer network to detect earthquakes that may indicate that a tsunami has formed. Deep-ocean pressure sensors and coastal tide gauges are the only tools available to detect and measure an actual tsunami. The electric current induced in submarine cables may provide an additional way to confirm and track a tsunami.
Since the 2004 tsunami, the international warning system has expanded to include 47 deep-ocean pressure sensors, most of them in the Pacific area. After an investment of more than $100 million and strong support of Congress, NOAA has made tsunami warnings and education a priority. Within the United States, real-time data from these deep ocean sensors are used to forecast the impact of the tsunami on U.S. shorelines.
Co-authors are Alexei Kuvshinov of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, S. Neetu of the National Institute of Oceanography, India and T. Harinarayana of the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India. Nair is also associated with NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science at the University of Colorado.
The study will appear in the February edition of the journal Earth, Planets and Space.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Report: '00s were globe's warmest decade on record
FROM: USA Today
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
The decade of 2000-09 was the Earth's warmest on record, according to data released last week by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, N.C.
The climate center reported that the decade's average global surface temperature was almost 1 degree above the 20th-century average. This shattered the 1990s reading, which was 0.65°F above average.
The global average is based on readings from more than 7,200 ground weather stations around the world and from ships and buoys at sea. Global weather data go back to 1880.
The NCDC reports two sustained periods of warming have been recorded in the past 130 years, one that occurred from around 1910-1945, and the most recent worldwide warming trend, which began around 1976.
"Temperatures during the latter period of warming have increased at a rate comparable to the rates of warming projected to occur during the next century, with continued increases of anthropogenic (man-made) greenhouse gases," noted climatologist Ahira Sanchez-Lugo in an online report.
2009 continued a trend of anomalously warm years. The years 2001 through 2008 each rank among the 10 warmest years of the 130-year (1880-2009) record, and 2009 was no exception. The climate center found that 2009 tied with 2006 as the fifth-warmest since records began in 1880.
Almost all of the Earth's land areas were warmer-than-average in 2009. Parts of Australia and New Zealand endured record-breaking warmth in January, February and August.
The only exceptions to the unusual warmth were in central Asia and interior sections of North America, including the U.S. Midwest, which experienced much cooler-than-normal temperatures.
Global precipitation in 2009 was near the long-term average, reported the climate center.
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
The decade of 2000-09 was the Earth's warmest on record, according to data released last week by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, N.C.
The climate center reported that the decade's average global surface temperature was almost 1 degree above the 20th-century average. This shattered the 1990s reading, which was 0.65°F above average.
The global average is based on readings from more than 7,200 ground weather stations around the world and from ships and buoys at sea. Global weather data go back to 1880.
The NCDC reports two sustained periods of warming have been recorded in the past 130 years, one that occurred from around 1910-1945, and the most recent worldwide warming trend, which began around 1976.
"Temperatures during the latter period of warming have increased at a rate comparable to the rates of warming projected to occur during the next century, with continued increases of anthropogenic (man-made) greenhouse gases," noted climatologist Ahira Sanchez-Lugo in an online report.
2009 continued a trend of anomalously warm years. The years 2001 through 2008 each rank among the 10 warmest years of the 130-year (1880-2009) record, and 2009 was no exception. The climate center found that 2009 tied with 2006 as the fifth-warmest since records began in 1880.
Almost all of the Earth's land areas were warmer-than-average in 2009. Parts of Australia and New Zealand endured record-breaking warmth in January, February and August.
The only exceptions to the unusual warmth were in central Asia and interior sections of North America, including the U.S. Midwest, which experienced much cooler-than-normal temperatures.
Global precipitation in 2009 was near the long-term average, reported the climate center.
Monday, January 18, 2010
L.A. County considers automated wildfire detection system
FROM: Los Angeles Times
Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich wants Los Angeles County to maintain an automated early detection and response system that could put out wildfires within minutes after they break out.
Antonovich called for a study into establishing the 24-hour, all-weather system in a motion filed today in response to last summer's Station fire, the largest wildfire in Los Angeles County history, which scorched more than 160,000 acres in the Angeles National Forest and killed two firefighters.
L.A. County fire officials have been critical of the U.S. Forest Service's response to the Station fire, which began Aug. 26, including the decision to withhold water-dropping aircraft while the blaze was still small.
Antonovich and Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) have called for a congressional inquiry into the agency's response.
"The Station Fire graphically spotlights the need to study and identify solutions for establishing an automated early detection system," the motion reads. "The goal of a technology-based system would be to identify new fires as they start and have a programmed airborne response within minutes to suppress the fire before it spreads."
The Board of Supervisors will consider the motion at its meeting today. If approved, the county's Quality and Productivity Commission would be directed to study options and report back in four months.
Tony Bell, a spokesman for Antonovich, said the commission would be instructed to look far and wide for technology that could be applied to local wildfires, including satellite imagery and military surveillance systems.
"It would involve looking at other states, counties and what's being used anywhere in the world to provide early notification of a fire hazard and allow us an opportunity to suppress it before it becomes a disaster," Bell said. "At this point, it's our obligation to look at any possible technological advances that will help us fight fires."
Changes to policy or technology should be made before the next fire season begins, Antonovich wrote.
--Tony Barboza
Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich wants Los Angeles County to maintain an automated early detection and response system that could put out wildfires within minutes after they break out.
Antonovich called for a study into establishing the 24-hour, all-weather system in a motion filed today in response to last summer's Station fire, the largest wildfire in Los Angeles County history, which scorched more than 160,000 acres in the Angeles National Forest and killed two firefighters.
L.A. County fire officials have been critical of the U.S. Forest Service's response to the Station fire, which began Aug. 26, including the decision to withhold water-dropping aircraft while the blaze was still small.
Antonovich and Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) have called for a congressional inquiry into the agency's response.
"The Station Fire graphically spotlights the need to study and identify solutions for establishing an automated early detection system," the motion reads. "The goal of a technology-based system would be to identify new fires as they start and have a programmed airborne response within minutes to suppress the fire before it spreads."
The Board of Supervisors will consider the motion at its meeting today. If approved, the county's Quality and Productivity Commission would be directed to study options and report back in four months.
Tony Bell, a spokesman for Antonovich, said the commission would be instructed to look far and wide for technology that could be applied to local wildfires, including satellite imagery and military surveillance systems.
"It would involve looking at other states, counties and what's being used anywhere in the world to provide early notification of a fire hazard and allow us an opportunity to suppress it before it becomes a disaster," Bell said. "At this point, it's our obligation to look at any possible technological advances that will help us fight fires."
Changes to policy or technology should be made before the next fire season begins, Antonovich wrote.
--Tony Barboza
Sunday, January 17, 2010
DWP chief pitches solar farm plans to Owens Valley residents
FROM: Los Angeles Times
The head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power tonight told Owens Valley residents that the utility plans to explore the viability of installing massive solar arrays near Lone Pine that potentially could generate the equivalent of a million households' worth of power
S. David Freeman, general manager and the mayor’s top environmental advisor, met with community members for close to two hours inside a church hall in Bishop to provide details of the proposals, which he stressed were still in the very early stages.
The DWP is considering erecting a solar facility on Owens Lake, drained by the DWP nearly a century ago when it diverted its water supply to the Los Angeles Aqueduct, and also on DWP-owned land stretching from the lake bed north to the town of Independence.
Freeman told the crowd he made the trip in part to assuage any skepticism that Owens Valley residents may harbor against the DWP for its water grab, legal conflicts and clashes over its stewardship of its lands.
“This is a new era. We’re going to tell people what we’re going to do before we do it. That always hasn’t been the case with us,’’ said Freeman, who was peppered with questions by the mostly cordial crowd.
City utility officials hope that along with generating power for L.A., building a solar array on Owens Lake would reduce the fierce dust storms that rise from the 110-square-mile dry lake bed.
To comply with federal clean air standards, the DWP is required to control the choking dust that has plagued the Owens Valley for decades. The DWP has spent more than $500 million on the effort thus far.
The DWP is seeking state approval for an 80-acre pilot solar farm on the lake bed, which is state land, to determine if it will be effective controlling dust. If it works, DWP officials said they are interested in building a solar array on up to 50 square miles of the lake bed.
Freeman said the utility also plans to assess the potential for building separate solar arrays east of the recently restored Lower Owens River in the southern portion of Owens Valley He assured residents, however, that more than 92% of the 310,000 acres of DWP-owned land in Owens and Mono valleys will be preserved and off limits to renewable-energy projects or other development, having “the biggest not-for-sale sign you’ve ever seen.’’
Freeman said solar projects could potentially generate five gigawatts of power, roughly equivalent to 10% of the state’s current energy use. However, the DWP would be limited to transmitting only 500 megawatts of that power to Los Angeles, the maximum it accepts from any one intermittent power source.
The L.A. utility already has engaged in preliminary discussions with other utilities and power providers, including the Edison Co. and Pacific Gas & Electric, about joining in on the Owens Valley solar projects, Freeman said.
The facilities would be a critical component of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's renewable-energy initiative. Villaraigosa has vowed to halt the use of coal-burning power plants by 2020 and -- that same year -- generate at least 40% of the city’s energy from renewable resources.
Owens Valley became even more essential to the mayor’s plans after DWP’s board of commissioners last week suspended all work on the proposed "Green Path North" transmission line that would have delivered electricity from proposed solar and geothermal facilities near the Salton Sea to L.A.
-- Phil Willon from Bishop
The head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power tonight told Owens Valley residents that the utility plans to explore the viability of installing massive solar arrays near Lone Pine that potentially could generate the equivalent of a million households' worth of power
S. David Freeman, general manager and the mayor’s top environmental advisor, met with community members for close to two hours inside a church hall in Bishop to provide details of the proposals, which he stressed were still in the very early stages.
The DWP is considering erecting a solar facility on Owens Lake, drained by the DWP nearly a century ago when it diverted its water supply to the Los Angeles Aqueduct, and also on DWP-owned land stretching from the lake bed north to the town of Independence.
Freeman told the crowd he made the trip in part to assuage any skepticism that Owens Valley residents may harbor against the DWP for its water grab, legal conflicts and clashes over its stewardship of its lands.
“This is a new era. We’re going to tell people what we’re going to do before we do it. That always hasn’t been the case with us,’’ said Freeman, who was peppered with questions by the mostly cordial crowd.
City utility officials hope that along with generating power for L.A., building a solar array on Owens Lake would reduce the fierce dust storms that rise from the 110-square-mile dry lake bed.
To comply with federal clean air standards, the DWP is required to control the choking dust that has plagued the Owens Valley for decades. The DWP has spent more than $500 million on the effort thus far.
The DWP is seeking state approval for an 80-acre pilot solar farm on the lake bed, which is state land, to determine if it will be effective controlling dust. If it works, DWP officials said they are interested in building a solar array on up to 50 square miles of the lake bed.
Freeman said the utility also plans to assess the potential for building separate solar arrays east of the recently restored Lower Owens River in the southern portion of Owens Valley He assured residents, however, that more than 92% of the 310,000 acres of DWP-owned land in Owens and Mono valleys will be preserved and off limits to renewable-energy projects or other development, having “the biggest not-for-sale sign you’ve ever seen.’’
Freeman said solar projects could potentially generate five gigawatts of power, roughly equivalent to 10% of the state’s current energy use. However, the DWP would be limited to transmitting only 500 megawatts of that power to Los Angeles, the maximum it accepts from any one intermittent power source.
The L.A. utility already has engaged in preliminary discussions with other utilities and power providers, including the Edison Co. and Pacific Gas & Electric, about joining in on the Owens Valley solar projects, Freeman said.
The facilities would be a critical component of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's renewable-energy initiative. Villaraigosa has vowed to halt the use of coal-burning power plants by 2020 and -- that same year -- generate at least 40% of the city’s energy from renewable resources.
Owens Valley became even more essential to the mayor’s plans after DWP’s board of commissioners last week suspended all work on the proposed "Green Path North" transmission line that would have delivered electricity from proposed solar and geothermal facilities near the Salton Sea to L.A.
-- Phil Willon from Bishop
Saturday, January 16, 2010
NOAA and California Officials Agree to Remove Large Concrete Dam to Eliminate Safety Hazard and Restore Steelhead Habitat
FROM: NOAA
NOAA joined state and local officials today in a pledge to remove the San Clemente Dam to eliminate a threat to the lives and property of those along California’s lower Carmel River, and help restore the watershed for federally protected steelhead trout.
The 89-year old, 106-foot high dam, which once helped bring water to residents of Monterey County, is at risk of failing during a significant earthquake or flood. Sediment has been building up behind the dam for years, making it a hazard for those living below it and almost useless as a water storage reservoir. If the dam were to fail, an estimated 2½ million cubic yards of sediment and more than 40 million gallons of water could rush downstream with potentially disastrous consequences.
The dam removal will also aid in the recovery of steelhead trout by opening up access to more than 25 square miles of spawning and rearing habitat. Steelhead in Carmel River were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1997.
“The removal of the San Clemente Dam will help restore richness to the entire ecosystem of the Carmel River while eliminating this major safety threat to the people and their property along it,” said Rodney McInnis, NOAA’s Fisheries Service southwest regional administrator. “The dam removal is vital to the recovery of this important steelhead trout run.”
According to the agreement signed today, NOAA, the California State Coastal Conservancy and California American Water will work along with other federal, state and local organizations to develop a project plan for the Carmel River Reroute and San Clemente Dam Removal Project by November. The dam removal itself may take place as early as 2012.
The total cost for the project is currently estimated at about $85 million. According to the agreement, California American Water will pay approximately $50 million, while the California State Coastal Conservancy, with assistance from NOAA, will secure the additional $35 million from state, federal and private funding sources by the end of the year.
“The San Clemente Dam Removal Project presents a unique opportunity for public and private interests to work together to realize public benefits far beyond what either could achieve working alone,” states Sam Schuchat, executive officer of the California State Coastal Conservancy.
NOAA joined state and local officials today in a pledge to remove the San Clemente Dam to eliminate a threat to the lives and property of those along California’s lower Carmel River, and help restore the watershed for federally protected steelhead trout.
The 89-year old, 106-foot high dam, which once helped bring water to residents of Monterey County, is at risk of failing during a significant earthquake or flood. Sediment has been building up behind the dam for years, making it a hazard for those living below it and almost useless as a water storage reservoir. If the dam were to fail, an estimated 2½ million cubic yards of sediment and more than 40 million gallons of water could rush downstream with potentially disastrous consequences.
The dam removal will also aid in the recovery of steelhead trout by opening up access to more than 25 square miles of spawning and rearing habitat. Steelhead in Carmel River were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1997.
“The removal of the San Clemente Dam will help restore richness to the entire ecosystem of the Carmel River while eliminating this major safety threat to the people and their property along it,” said Rodney McInnis, NOAA’s Fisheries Service southwest regional administrator. “The dam removal is vital to the recovery of this important steelhead trout run.”
According to the agreement signed today, NOAA, the California State Coastal Conservancy and California American Water will work along with other federal, state and local organizations to develop a project plan for the Carmel River Reroute and San Clemente Dam Removal Project by November. The dam removal itself may take place as early as 2012.
The total cost for the project is currently estimated at about $85 million. According to the agreement, California American Water will pay approximately $50 million, while the California State Coastal Conservancy, with assistance from NOAA, will secure the additional $35 million from state, federal and private funding sources by the end of the year.
“The San Clemente Dam Removal Project presents a unique opportunity for public and private interests to work together to realize public benefits far beyond what either could achieve working alone,” states Sam Schuchat, executive officer of the California State Coastal Conservancy.
Friday, January 15, 2010
NOAA: U.S. December Wetter and Colder than Average
FROM: NOAA
NOAA’s State of the Climate report shows the December 2009 average temperature for the contiguous United States was 30.2 degrees F, which is 3.2 degrees F below average. Last month’s average precipitation was 2.88 inches, which is 0.65 inch above the 1901-2000 average.
For 2009, the contiguous United States averaged 53.1 degrees F, which was 0.3 degrees warmer than average. The U.S. averaged 31.47 inches of precipitation for the year, which was 2.33 inches above the long-term average. Based on data going back to 1895, the monthly analyses prepared by scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, are part of the suite of climate services provided by NOAA.
U.S. Temperature Highlights
The nationally-averaged temperature for December was below normal, as Arctic air dove deep into the United States. No region averaged above normal temperatures.
Nebraska had its eighth coolest December, Texas, Nevada, and Wyoming their ninth, and Montana and Utah their tenth coolest.
2009 yearly temperatures were above normal in parts of the South, Southwest and West, while much of the Central Plains and Midwest were below normal.
U.S. Precipitation Highlights
The U.S. recorded its 11th wettest December on record, making 2009 the fourth consecutive December that the contiguous U.S. has seen above normal precipitation.
It was the wettest December on record for Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Maryland. Thirteen states experienced December precipitation that ranked among their top ten wettest. Only Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington had precipitation below the December long-term average.
Several major cities, including Philadelphia, Washington, and Oklahoma City, had their snowiest Decembers on record.
Other Highlights
Several significant winter storms affected the United States in December. NOAA satellite observations showed the average snow extent for the contiguous U.S. was more than 4.1 million square kilometers - the largest for any December since the satellite record began in 1966.
By the end of December, moderate-to-exceptional drought covered only 12.4 percent of the contiguous United States, based on the U.S. Drought Monitor. During the year, major drought episodes in California and South Texas improved significantly, while drought conditions emerged across much of Arizona, partly due to the weakness of this year’s North American monsoon season.
About 43 percent of the contiguous United States had moderately-to-extremely wet conditions at the end of December, according to the Palmer Index.
NCDC’s preliminary reports, which assess the current state of the climate, are released soon after the end of each month. These analyses are based on preliminary data, which are subject to revision. Additional quality control is applied to the data when late reports are received several weeks after the end of the month and as increased scientific methods improve NCDC’s processing algorithms.
Scientists, researchers and leaders in government and industry use NCDC’s monthly reports to help track trends and other changes in the world’s climate. The data have a wide range of practical uses, from helping farmers know what to plant, to guiding resource managers with critical decisions about water, energy and other vital assets.
NOAA’s State of the Climate report shows the December 2009 average temperature for the contiguous United States was 30.2 degrees F, which is 3.2 degrees F below average. Last month’s average precipitation was 2.88 inches, which is 0.65 inch above the 1901-2000 average.
For 2009, the contiguous United States averaged 53.1 degrees F, which was 0.3 degrees warmer than average. The U.S. averaged 31.47 inches of precipitation for the year, which was 2.33 inches above the long-term average. Based on data going back to 1895, the monthly analyses prepared by scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, are part of the suite of climate services provided by NOAA.
U.S. Temperature Highlights
The nationally-averaged temperature for December was below normal, as Arctic air dove deep into the United States. No region averaged above normal temperatures.
Nebraska had its eighth coolest December, Texas, Nevada, and Wyoming their ninth, and Montana and Utah their tenth coolest.
2009 yearly temperatures were above normal in parts of the South, Southwest and West, while much of the Central Plains and Midwest were below normal.
U.S. Precipitation Highlights
The U.S. recorded its 11th wettest December on record, making 2009 the fourth consecutive December that the contiguous U.S. has seen above normal precipitation.
It was the wettest December on record for Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Maryland. Thirteen states experienced December precipitation that ranked among their top ten wettest. Only Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington had precipitation below the December long-term average.
Several major cities, including Philadelphia, Washington, and Oklahoma City, had their snowiest Decembers on record.
Other Highlights
Several significant winter storms affected the United States in December. NOAA satellite observations showed the average snow extent for the contiguous U.S. was more than 4.1 million square kilometers - the largest for any December since the satellite record began in 1966.
By the end of December, moderate-to-exceptional drought covered only 12.4 percent of the contiguous United States, based on the U.S. Drought Monitor. During the year, major drought episodes in California and South Texas improved significantly, while drought conditions emerged across much of Arizona, partly due to the weakness of this year’s North American monsoon season.
About 43 percent of the contiguous United States had moderately-to-extremely wet conditions at the end of December, according to the Palmer Index.
NCDC’s preliminary reports, which assess the current state of the climate, are released soon after the end of each month. These analyses are based on preliminary data, which are subject to revision. Additional quality control is applied to the data when late reports are received several weeks after the end of the month and as increased scientific methods improve NCDC’s processing algorithms.
Scientists, researchers and leaders in government and industry use NCDC’s monthly reports to help track trends and other changes in the world’s climate. The data have a wide range of practical uses, from helping farmers know what to plant, to guiding resource managers with critical decisions about water, energy and other vital assets.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Environmental groups try to block parts of California's green building code
FROM: Los Angeles Times
By Margot Roosevelt
Environmental groups are mounting a last-ditch effort to derail key elements of the state's first-in-the-nation green building code -- a major initiative of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration.
The proposed code, likely to be adopted Tuesday, would slash water use, mandate the recycling of construction waste, cut back on polluting materials and step up enforcement of energy efficiency in new homes, schools, hospitals and commercial buildings statewide.
"It is going to change the whole fabric of how buildings are built by integrating green practices into our everyday building code," said David Walls, executive director of the California Building Standards Commission. "The rest of the nation will be looking at what we have done."
But critics say the rules fall short of rigorous standards adopted by Los Angeles, San Francisco and more than 50 California jurisdictions in league with the U.S. Green Building Council, a national nonprofit group of architects, engineers and construction companies.
The council's voluntary Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards have become an industry norm in recent years, with architects and construction firms competing on four levels -- LEED basic, silver, gold or platinum -- to market their buildings as green.
In 2004, Schwarzenegger ordered that all new state buildings meet at least a LEED silver level.
But parts of the state's new code, which would take effect in January 2011, would amount to "a setback for California's leadership on green building," according to a Dec. 22 letter from six groups. They included the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Global Green, along with two nonprofit certification groups, the Green Building Council and Berkeley-based Build It Green.
The groups largely applaud the code's mandatory rules as a baseline minimum standard.
But they take issue with its two-tier labeling system for stricter voluntary measures, CalGreen, saying it would be open to conflicting interpretations and be unenforceable by local building inspectors.
"The tiers cause confusion in the marketplace and the potential for builders to label their buildings green without substantiating their claims," said Elizabeth Echols, director of the Green Building Council's Northern California chapter. Many local officials who would be responsible for verifying builder claims do not have the technical expertise that LEED and other third-party verifiers provide, she added.
More than 200 architects, engineers and builders have e-mailed Schwarznegger in the last three days to oppose the CalGreen label.
"The last thing we need is a new government rating system," said Phil Williams, vice president of Webcor, the state's biggest contractor.
But Dan Pellissier, a deputy cabinet official who met with critics last week, alleged that the Green Building Council is leading opposition to CalGreen because it does not want competition to its own private-sector LEED brand.
Meanwhile, many builders want an alternative to LEED. "The cost for owners to go through this rating system is astronomical -- in a very challenging commercial real estate market," contended Sandra Boyle, an executive vice president of Glenborough, a San Mateo developer.
Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, said the building commission had tightened its proposal based on the board's requests, but she acknowledged it might not be as rigorous as third-party systems.
Still, she added, "it is a heck of a lot better than anything we have now."
The new code would require developers to slash water use in their buildings by 20%, using more efficient toilets, shower heads and faucets.
The code would divert half of all construction waste away from landfills by requiring recycling. And it would allow buildings to be occupied only after strict energy standards were verified.
By Margot Roosevelt
Environmental groups are mounting a last-ditch effort to derail key elements of the state's first-in-the-nation green building code -- a major initiative of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration.
The proposed code, likely to be adopted Tuesday, would slash water use, mandate the recycling of construction waste, cut back on polluting materials and step up enforcement of energy efficiency in new homes, schools, hospitals and commercial buildings statewide.
"It is going to change the whole fabric of how buildings are built by integrating green practices into our everyday building code," said David Walls, executive director of the California Building Standards Commission. "The rest of the nation will be looking at what we have done."
But critics say the rules fall short of rigorous standards adopted by Los Angeles, San Francisco and more than 50 California jurisdictions in league with the U.S. Green Building Council, a national nonprofit group of architects, engineers and construction companies.
The council's voluntary Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards have become an industry norm in recent years, with architects and construction firms competing on four levels -- LEED basic, silver, gold or platinum -- to market their buildings as green.
In 2004, Schwarzenegger ordered that all new state buildings meet at least a LEED silver level.
But parts of the state's new code, which would take effect in January 2011, would amount to "a setback for California's leadership on green building," according to a Dec. 22 letter from six groups. They included the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Global Green, along with two nonprofit certification groups, the Green Building Council and Berkeley-based Build It Green.
The groups largely applaud the code's mandatory rules as a baseline minimum standard.
But they take issue with its two-tier labeling system for stricter voluntary measures, CalGreen, saying it would be open to conflicting interpretations and be unenforceable by local building inspectors.
"The tiers cause confusion in the marketplace and the potential for builders to label their buildings green without substantiating their claims," said Elizabeth Echols, director of the Green Building Council's Northern California chapter. Many local officials who would be responsible for verifying builder claims do not have the technical expertise that LEED and other third-party verifiers provide, she added.
More than 200 architects, engineers and builders have e-mailed Schwarznegger in the last three days to oppose the CalGreen label.
"The last thing we need is a new government rating system," said Phil Williams, vice president of Webcor, the state's biggest contractor.
But Dan Pellissier, a deputy cabinet official who met with critics last week, alleged that the Green Building Council is leading opposition to CalGreen because it does not want competition to its own private-sector LEED brand.
Meanwhile, many builders want an alternative to LEED. "The cost for owners to go through this rating system is astronomical -- in a very challenging commercial real estate market," contended Sandra Boyle, an executive vice president of Glenborough, a San Mateo developer.
Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, said the building commission had tightened its proposal based on the board's requests, but she acknowledged it might not be as rigorous as third-party systems.
Still, she added, "it is a heck of a lot better than anything we have now."
The new code would require developers to slash water use in their buildings by 20%, using more efficient toilets, shower heads and faucets.
The code would divert half of all construction waste away from landfills by requiring recycling. And it would allow buildings to be occupied only after strict energy standards were verified.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Report: 2009 was a warm year in USA
FROM: USA Today
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
Despite an unusually chilly year in the Midwest, the national U.S. temperature was slightly above average in 2009, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
This marked the 13th consecutive year the nation experienced a warmer-than-normal average temperature. Since the late 1980s, 21 of the last 24 years have been unusually warm in the USA. Beginning in late 1800s, when accurate weather records began, the country has been warming at a rate of about 0.1 degree per decade, according to the climate center.
Overall, the nation measured 53.1 degrees for the year, which ranked it as the 35-warmest year on record. The long-term average is 52.8 degrees.
The climate center reported that while much of the central Plains and Midwest had below-normal temperatures in 2009, the coolness there was counterbalanced by above-average readings in parts of the South, Southwest and West.
Precipitation was more of a story than temperature in many locations. Three states –Illinois, Arkansas, and Alabama– slogged through their second-wettest year on record. Meanwhile, six other states had one of their top 10 wettest years ever recorded: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, and Missouri.
Arizona was the only state that recorded one of its 10-driest years on record.
Global temperatures for 2009 will be released this week. Based on preliminary data, scientists predicted that 2009 was one of the 10-warmest years of the global surface temperature record, and likely finished as the fourth, fifth or sixth warmest year on record.
Other noteworthy U.S. weather and climate stories of 2009 included:
• Seasonal snowfall records (2008-09) for Spokane, Wash., and International Falls, Minn.
• Record cool temperatures for Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia in July.
• The third-driest summer on record in Arizona.
• The 10th-consecutive summer with above-average temperatures in the Northwest.
• The second-wettest summer on record in the Northeast.
• Record warmth in California and Nevada in September.
• The largest recorded wildfire in Los Angeles County history, with 160,000 acres burned, and 2 deaths (August-October).
• The wettest October on record for the USA.
By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
Despite an unusually chilly year in the Midwest, the national U.S. temperature was slightly above average in 2009, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
This marked the 13th consecutive year the nation experienced a warmer-than-normal average temperature. Since the late 1980s, 21 of the last 24 years have been unusually warm in the USA. Beginning in late 1800s, when accurate weather records began, the country has been warming at a rate of about 0.1 degree per decade, according to the climate center.
Overall, the nation measured 53.1 degrees for the year, which ranked it as the 35-warmest year on record. The long-term average is 52.8 degrees.
The climate center reported that while much of the central Plains and Midwest had below-normal temperatures in 2009, the coolness there was counterbalanced by above-average readings in parts of the South, Southwest and West.
Precipitation was more of a story than temperature in many locations. Three states –Illinois, Arkansas, and Alabama– slogged through their second-wettest year on record. Meanwhile, six other states had one of their top 10 wettest years ever recorded: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, and Missouri.
Arizona was the only state that recorded one of its 10-driest years on record.
Global temperatures for 2009 will be released this week. Based on preliminary data, scientists predicted that 2009 was one of the 10-warmest years of the global surface temperature record, and likely finished as the fourth, fifth or sixth warmest year on record.
Other noteworthy U.S. weather and climate stories of 2009 included:
• Seasonal snowfall records (2008-09) for Spokane, Wash., and International Falls, Minn.
• Record cool temperatures for Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia in July.
• The third-driest summer on record in Arizona.
• The 10th-consecutive summer with above-average temperatures in the Northwest.
• The second-wettest summer on record in the Northeast.
• Record warmth in California and Nevada in September.
• The largest recorded wildfire in Los Angeles County history, with 160,000 acres burned, and 2 deaths (August-October).
• The wettest October on record for the USA.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Sierra's current height goes back 50 million years, study finds
FROM: Los Angeles Times
By Amina Khan
The Sierra Nevada reached their present height 50 million years ago -- 30 million years earlier than geologists once believed, according to a new study.
The research, part of a growing body of evidence that the Sierra Nevada are far older than once thought, has implications for understanding the evolution of the plants and animals in the West, as well as the likely climate of ancient North America.
The study, by scientists at Yale University and the Berkeley Museum of Paleontology, used 50 million-year-old chemical traces left on ancient leaves by microbes and raindrops to calculate the new height estimate for the Sierras at that time.
The western United States would have looked very different then, filled with lush forests of vines and magnolias. The Pacific Ocean would have lapped the foot of the Sierra.
"This is a time period where there would have been crocodiles in Wyoming," said lead author Michael Hren, a University of Michigan postdoctoral fellow who did the research while at Yale.
Sampling ancient flood-plain sites, the researchers found leaves preserved in the oxygen-poor sediments. They analyzed the waxes on the surface of those ancient leaves, measuring levels of normal hydrogen and its slightly heavier isotope, deuterium. This gave them an estimate of the elevation at which the leaves grew.
As clouds rise up the side of mountains, water droplets containing the heavier deuterium fall first, and droplets containing the lighter hydrogen later. The lower the proportion of deuterium on a leaf, the higher up the mountain that leaf must have been, the scientists surmised.
Hren also looked at soil carried down from the mountains to the ancient flood plains, checking for chemicals left by microbes that lived in the sediments. Cell membranes in these microorganisms changed composition depending on whether it was cool or hot -- providing a kind of ancient biological thermometer.
Using those data, the scientists estimated that the temperature had been 6 to 8 degrees Celsius warmer than today.
The idea that the Sierra Nevada were sitting at their current height 30 million years earlier than anticipated has implications for studies on the evolution of plants and animals, scientists said.
For example, with the mountains already in place so long ago, "how could animals migrate from California into the Great Basin?" asked Paul Koch, chairman of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department at UC Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the research.
For understanding evolution of U.S. flora and fauna, "it matters a lot," he said.
The finding also has implications for historical climate estimates across North America. "Climate models require that you understand elevation," Koch said. "In Kansas it matters for you to get the topography of the Sierra Nevada right. In Florida it matters."
The study, published in the journal Geology, also provides a more accurate tool for exploring the elevation of ancient landscapes, said Diane M. Erwin, a study coauthor from the UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology. In the past, such estimates have been made by studying leaf shapes. Such estimates can be less accurate than the deuterium method.
Putting together different pieces of data to create a coherent picture of the past is what drew him to the work, Hren said.
"It's amazing to break open a rock and look at these amazingly preserved leaves that can tell you a story from 50 million years ago."
By Amina Khan
The Sierra Nevada reached their present height 50 million years ago -- 30 million years earlier than geologists once believed, according to a new study.
The research, part of a growing body of evidence that the Sierra Nevada are far older than once thought, has implications for understanding the evolution of the plants and animals in the West, as well as the likely climate of ancient North America.
The study, by scientists at Yale University and the Berkeley Museum of Paleontology, used 50 million-year-old chemical traces left on ancient leaves by microbes and raindrops to calculate the new height estimate for the Sierras at that time.
The western United States would have looked very different then, filled with lush forests of vines and magnolias. The Pacific Ocean would have lapped the foot of the Sierra.
"This is a time period where there would have been crocodiles in Wyoming," said lead author Michael Hren, a University of Michigan postdoctoral fellow who did the research while at Yale.
Sampling ancient flood-plain sites, the researchers found leaves preserved in the oxygen-poor sediments. They analyzed the waxes on the surface of those ancient leaves, measuring levels of normal hydrogen and its slightly heavier isotope, deuterium. This gave them an estimate of the elevation at which the leaves grew.
As clouds rise up the side of mountains, water droplets containing the heavier deuterium fall first, and droplets containing the lighter hydrogen later. The lower the proportion of deuterium on a leaf, the higher up the mountain that leaf must have been, the scientists surmised.
Hren also looked at soil carried down from the mountains to the ancient flood plains, checking for chemicals left by microbes that lived in the sediments. Cell membranes in these microorganisms changed composition depending on whether it was cool or hot -- providing a kind of ancient biological thermometer.
Using those data, the scientists estimated that the temperature had been 6 to 8 degrees Celsius warmer than today.
The idea that the Sierra Nevada were sitting at their current height 30 million years earlier than anticipated has implications for studies on the evolution of plants and animals, scientists said.
For example, with the mountains already in place so long ago, "how could animals migrate from California into the Great Basin?" asked Paul Koch, chairman of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department at UC Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the research.
For understanding evolution of U.S. flora and fauna, "it matters a lot," he said.
The finding also has implications for historical climate estimates across North America. "Climate models require that you understand elevation," Koch said. "In Kansas it matters for you to get the topography of the Sierra Nevada right. In Florida it matters."
The study, published in the journal Geology, also provides a more accurate tool for exploring the elevation of ancient landscapes, said Diane M. Erwin, a study coauthor from the UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology. In the past, such estimates have been made by studying leaf shapes. Such estimates can be less accurate than the deuterium method.
Putting together different pieces of data to create a coherent picture of the past is what drew him to the work, Hren said.
"It's amazing to break open a rock and look at these amazingly preserved leaves that can tell you a story from 50 million years ago."
Monday, January 11, 2010
Stricter new smog limit would hit rural areas, too
FROM: San Diego Union-Tribune
By DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of communities far from congested highways and belching smokestacks could soon join big cities and industrial corridors in violation of stricter limits on lung-damaging smog proposed Thursday by the Obama administration.
Costs of compliance could be in the tens of billions of dollars, but the government said the rules would save other billions - as well as lives - in the long run.
More than 300 counties - mainly in southern California, the Northeast and Gulf Coast - already violate the current, looser requirements adopted two years ago by the Bush administration and will find it even harder to reduce smog-forming pollution enough to comply with the law.
The new limits being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency could more than double the number of counties in violation and reach places like California's wine country in Napa Valley and rural Trego County, Kan., and its 3,000 residents.
For the first time, counties in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, the Dakotas, Kansas, Minnesota and Iowa might be forced to find ways to clamp down on smog-forming emissions from industry and automobiles, or face government sanctions, most likely the loss of federal highway dollars.
The tighter standards, though costly to implement, will ultimately save billions in avoided emergency room visits, premature deaths, and missed work and school days, the EPA said.
"EPA is stepping up to protect Americans from one of the most persistent and widespread pollutants we face," said agency administrator Lisa Jackson. "Using the best science to strengthen these standards is long overdue action that will help millions of Americans breathe easier and live healthier."
The proposal presents a range for the allowable concentration of ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, from 60 parts per billion to 70 parts, as recommended by scientists during the Bush administration. That's equivalent to a single tennis ball in an Olympic-sized swimming pool full of tennis balls.
EPA plans to select a specific figure within that range by August. Counties and states will then have up to 20 years to meet the new limits, depending on how severely they are out of compliance. They will have to submit plans for meeting the new limits by end of 2013 or early 2014.
Former President George W. Bush personally intervened in the issue after hearing complaints from electric utilities and other affected industries. His EPA set a standard of 75 parts per billion, stricter than one adopted in 1997 but not as strict as what scientist said was needed to protect public health.
Some of those same industries reiterated their opposition Thursday to a stronger smog standard.
"We probably won't know for a couple of years just what utilities and other emissions sources will be required to do in response to a tighter ozone standard," said John Kinsman, a senior director at the Edison Electric Institute, an industry trade group. "Utilities already have made substantial reductions in ozone-related emissions."
Parts of the country that have already spent decades and millions of dollars fighting smog and are still struggling to meet existing thresholds questioned what more they could do. They've already cut pollution from the easier sources, by increasing monitoring and enforcement and requiring car emissions tests.
"This EPA decision provides the illusion of greater protectiveness, but with no regard for cost, in terms of dollars or in terms of the freedoms that Americans are accustomed to," said Bryan W. Shaw, chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Texas, with its heavy industry, is home to Houston, one of the smoggiest cities in the nation.
Environmentalists endorsed the new plan. "If EPA follows through, it will mean significantly cleaner air and better health protection," said Frank O'Donnell, president of the advocacy group Clean Air Watch.
EPA estimates meeting the new requirements will cost industry and motorists from $19 billion to as much as $90 billion a year by 2020. The Bush administration had put the cost of meeting its threshold at $7.6 billion to $8.5 billion a year.
The new regulations would mean more controls on large industrial facilities, plus regulating smaller facilities and sources. New federal regulations in the works to improve car and truck fuel economy and curb global warming pollution at large factories will also help communities meet any new standards, the EPA said.
Smog is a respiratory irritant that has been linked to asthma attacks and other illnesses. Global warming is expected to make it worse, since smog is created when emissions from cars, power and chemical plants, refineries and other factories mix in sunlight and heat.
But some parts of the country that could be found in violation of the proposed standards have very few cars and little industry. In places like these, smog-forming pollution is being blown in from hundreds of miles away.
Charlene Neish, director of Trego County Economic Development, moved to the rural county in western Kansas a decade ago from Phoenix to escape big city problems like traffic and air pollution. Neish was shocked that her county, which has about nine people per square mile and virtually no industry, made the list.
"There is absolutely nothing in Trego County," Neish said. "We have wide open spaces and fresh air."
In Utah, six more counties would join the three in violation of the Bush standard.
Cheryl Heying, director of Utah's Division of Air Quality, said the change will not only require additional reductions in vehicle and industrial emissions, but a regional focus on other contributors such as wildfire smoke and offshore shipping.
"That doesn't mean we're just going to point our finger at everyone else, but if we don't cooperate, we're never going to get it done," Heying said.
By DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of communities far from congested highways and belching smokestacks could soon join big cities and industrial corridors in violation of stricter limits on lung-damaging smog proposed Thursday by the Obama administration.
Costs of compliance could be in the tens of billions of dollars, but the government said the rules would save other billions - as well as lives - in the long run.
More than 300 counties - mainly in southern California, the Northeast and Gulf Coast - already violate the current, looser requirements adopted two years ago by the Bush administration and will find it even harder to reduce smog-forming pollution enough to comply with the law.
The new limits being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency could more than double the number of counties in violation and reach places like California's wine country in Napa Valley and rural Trego County, Kan., and its 3,000 residents.
For the first time, counties in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, the Dakotas, Kansas, Minnesota and Iowa might be forced to find ways to clamp down on smog-forming emissions from industry and automobiles, or face government sanctions, most likely the loss of federal highway dollars.
The tighter standards, though costly to implement, will ultimately save billions in avoided emergency room visits, premature deaths, and missed work and school days, the EPA said.
"EPA is stepping up to protect Americans from one of the most persistent and widespread pollutants we face," said agency administrator Lisa Jackson. "Using the best science to strengthen these standards is long overdue action that will help millions of Americans breathe easier and live healthier."
The proposal presents a range for the allowable concentration of ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, from 60 parts per billion to 70 parts, as recommended by scientists during the Bush administration. That's equivalent to a single tennis ball in an Olympic-sized swimming pool full of tennis balls.
EPA plans to select a specific figure within that range by August. Counties and states will then have up to 20 years to meet the new limits, depending on how severely they are out of compliance. They will have to submit plans for meeting the new limits by end of 2013 or early 2014.
Former President George W. Bush personally intervened in the issue after hearing complaints from electric utilities and other affected industries. His EPA set a standard of 75 parts per billion, stricter than one adopted in 1997 but not as strict as what scientist said was needed to protect public health.
Some of those same industries reiterated their opposition Thursday to a stronger smog standard.
"We probably won't know for a couple of years just what utilities and other emissions sources will be required to do in response to a tighter ozone standard," said John Kinsman, a senior director at the Edison Electric Institute, an industry trade group. "Utilities already have made substantial reductions in ozone-related emissions."
Parts of the country that have already spent decades and millions of dollars fighting smog and are still struggling to meet existing thresholds questioned what more they could do. They've already cut pollution from the easier sources, by increasing monitoring and enforcement and requiring car emissions tests.
"This EPA decision provides the illusion of greater protectiveness, but with no regard for cost, in terms of dollars or in terms of the freedoms that Americans are accustomed to," said Bryan W. Shaw, chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Texas, with its heavy industry, is home to Houston, one of the smoggiest cities in the nation.
Environmentalists endorsed the new plan. "If EPA follows through, it will mean significantly cleaner air and better health protection," said Frank O'Donnell, president of the advocacy group Clean Air Watch.
EPA estimates meeting the new requirements will cost industry and motorists from $19 billion to as much as $90 billion a year by 2020. The Bush administration had put the cost of meeting its threshold at $7.6 billion to $8.5 billion a year.
The new regulations would mean more controls on large industrial facilities, plus regulating smaller facilities and sources. New federal regulations in the works to improve car and truck fuel economy and curb global warming pollution at large factories will also help communities meet any new standards, the EPA said.
Smog is a respiratory irritant that has been linked to asthma attacks and other illnesses. Global warming is expected to make it worse, since smog is created when emissions from cars, power and chemical plants, refineries and other factories mix in sunlight and heat.
But some parts of the country that could be found in violation of the proposed standards have very few cars and little industry. In places like these, smog-forming pollution is being blown in from hundreds of miles away.
Charlene Neish, director of Trego County Economic Development, moved to the rural county in western Kansas a decade ago from Phoenix to escape big city problems like traffic and air pollution. Neish was shocked that her county, which has about nine people per square mile and virtually no industry, made the list.
"There is absolutely nothing in Trego County," Neish said. "We have wide open spaces and fresh air."
In Utah, six more counties would join the three in violation of the Bush standard.
Cheryl Heying, director of Utah's Division of Air Quality, said the change will not only require additional reductions in vehicle and industrial emissions, but a regional focus on other contributors such as wildfire smoke and offshore shipping.
"That doesn't mean we're just going to point our finger at everyone else, but if we don't cooperate, we're never going to get it done," Heying said.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Cleaner port air, but how?
FROM: Los Angeles Times
By Ronald D. White
Not too long ago, the 10,500-acre complex at the southern tip of Los Angeles County wasn't just the home of the nation's busiest seaports, it was the graveyard where old trucks went to die.
Dented, rusting 1988-and-older rigs hauled cargo containers to and from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, earning the harbor the nickname of "diesel death zone."
On Jan. 1, the neighboring ports cruised past a major pollution-fighting milestone, banning trucks made before 1994 and those that don't meet at least 2004 emissions standards -- trucks such as the 15-year-old Freightliner once owned by Guido Perez. The Lancaster resident now drives a 2008 ultra-low-emission Peterbilt, one of more than 6,000 new trucks brought into cargo service at the ports in the last 15 months.
"It's a beautiful truck," Perez said. "I can't even smell the exhaust."
But for all the progress since mayors Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles and Bob Foster of Long Beach launched the nation's most ambitious clean-trucks program at a ceremony Oct. 1, 2008, a new lawsuit shows that hardly anyone is completely happy with how the changes are being carried out.
At the heart of the conflict is the issue of whether drivers must work for trucking companies, as the Los Angeles clean-trucks program requires, or can remain self-employed, as Long Beach's plan allows. The Los Angeles effort is seen as pro-union because working for a trucking company makes drivers more likely to be recruited by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club recently sued Long Beach officials, accusing them of cutting a deal with the trucking industry that puts "the wolf in charge of the henhouse." They charged in Los Angeles Superior Court that Long Beach, in reaching a settlement that got it out of a lawsuit against the two ports brought by the American Trucking Assn., failed to seek public input. The settlement, the groups' lawsuit said, would leave Long Beach unable to "stop trucking companies from using dirty trucks that fail to meet environmental and safety standards."
Long Beach City Atty. Robert Shannon said municipal officials "believe these allegations have no merit."
On Monday, the American Trucking Assn. is to head to federal court seeking a summary judgment to prevent Los Angeles from executing its plan. The ATA says the Los Angeles port is violating federal deregulation laws by requiring drivers to give up independent owner-operator status and work for trucking companies, a mandate that is being phased in.
Perez, 53, is an owner-operator who says the clean-trucks program is working for him. Perez found his Peterbilt for $80,000 after the company he drives for said it would no longer give him work if he were using his old 1995 truck.
On Oct. 1, 2008, the ports had barred all 1988 and older trucks. As of Jan. 1 this year, all 1993 and older trucks are banned. Trucks built from 1994 to 2003 will be allowed access only if equipped with verified diesel emission control retrofits. Only 2004 and younger rigs can enter without question.
Since the restrictions were set, the California Air Resources Board has adopted similar rules for all ports and railroad yards in California.
The only thing Perez finds daunting is the economy, which he says is still slower than it has been in several years. Perez's usual gig is hauling borax from Trona, Calif., for a trucking company that seems committed to getting him enough work to keep up with his $1,600 monthly truck payment. He says it's "a lot more than my home mortgage."
But Rafael Dominguez, 31, said he has had a nightmare experience. Dominguez gave up his rig, a 1997 Volvo, after learning that a retrofit would cost more than the truck was worth. He said he worked out a "lease-to-own" deal in March of last year on a new rig bought by a local trucking company.
But Dominguez said the company, which he declined to identify, kept changing the rules on him, raising what he would have to pay for the lease, which began at $1,640 a month. Dominguez said the company set up an unfairly competitive system under which drivers who did the most work would be allowed to pay less. In November, Dominguez walked away from what he had already paid on the lease and became an employee of another firm.
"As an independent driver, I wasn't really independent at all. I had no rights, no benefits, no paid time off. The trucking company could say 'take it or leave it' and do anything they wanted," Dominguez said.
John Holmes, deputy executive director of operations for the Port of Los Angeles, doesn't know Dominguez or his situation. But he said that the port was trying to push the industry away from a system in which drivers were compelled to "undercut one another, always trying to be $5 cheaper than the next guy, at the expense of the environment."
Toward that end, the port shelled out $44 million in the form of $20,000-per-truck incentives.
"It was pretty clear to us that we were going to have to change the industry in order for this to be successful and sustainable," Holmes said.
Mayor Foster, who went out to view port operations Monday, said the Long Beach plan was "succeeding better than our best hopes" and was proof that his port "can have robust commerce and cleaner air."
Mike Fox has a different perspective. He's owner and chief executive of Fox Transportation Inc., a trucking company in Rancho Cucamonga. He's also one of the principals of the Clean Truck Coalition, a group of 10 small to medium-size family-owned companies that was among the first to apply for the incentive money from Los Angeles, ultimately buying 600 vehicles.
Fox said he wanted the L.A. and Long Beach ports to get out of their court battles and work together on a single plan. That, he said, would end the apprehension some customers feel because of the disputes.
Without a single plan, some businesses might go to other ports where the situation is less confusing.
"Our businesses work with both Los Angeles and Long Beach," Fox said. "We are the home teams, and what we want to see is more business at the ports."
By Ronald D. White
Not too long ago, the 10,500-acre complex at the southern tip of Los Angeles County wasn't just the home of the nation's busiest seaports, it was the graveyard where old trucks went to die.
Dented, rusting 1988-and-older rigs hauled cargo containers to and from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, earning the harbor the nickname of "diesel death zone."
On Jan. 1, the neighboring ports cruised past a major pollution-fighting milestone, banning trucks made before 1994 and those that don't meet at least 2004 emissions standards -- trucks such as the 15-year-old Freightliner once owned by Guido Perez. The Lancaster resident now drives a 2008 ultra-low-emission Peterbilt, one of more than 6,000 new trucks brought into cargo service at the ports in the last 15 months.
"It's a beautiful truck," Perez said. "I can't even smell the exhaust."
But for all the progress since mayors Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles and Bob Foster of Long Beach launched the nation's most ambitious clean-trucks program at a ceremony Oct. 1, 2008, a new lawsuit shows that hardly anyone is completely happy with how the changes are being carried out.
At the heart of the conflict is the issue of whether drivers must work for trucking companies, as the Los Angeles clean-trucks program requires, or can remain self-employed, as Long Beach's plan allows. The Los Angeles effort is seen as pro-union because working for a trucking company makes drivers more likely to be recruited by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club recently sued Long Beach officials, accusing them of cutting a deal with the trucking industry that puts "the wolf in charge of the henhouse." They charged in Los Angeles Superior Court that Long Beach, in reaching a settlement that got it out of a lawsuit against the two ports brought by the American Trucking Assn., failed to seek public input. The settlement, the groups' lawsuit said, would leave Long Beach unable to "stop trucking companies from using dirty trucks that fail to meet environmental and safety standards."
Long Beach City Atty. Robert Shannon said municipal officials "believe these allegations have no merit."
On Monday, the American Trucking Assn. is to head to federal court seeking a summary judgment to prevent Los Angeles from executing its plan. The ATA says the Los Angeles port is violating federal deregulation laws by requiring drivers to give up independent owner-operator status and work for trucking companies, a mandate that is being phased in.
Perez, 53, is an owner-operator who says the clean-trucks program is working for him. Perez found his Peterbilt for $80,000 after the company he drives for said it would no longer give him work if he were using his old 1995 truck.
On Oct. 1, 2008, the ports had barred all 1988 and older trucks. As of Jan. 1 this year, all 1993 and older trucks are banned. Trucks built from 1994 to 2003 will be allowed access only if equipped with verified diesel emission control retrofits. Only 2004 and younger rigs can enter without question.
Since the restrictions were set, the California Air Resources Board has adopted similar rules for all ports and railroad yards in California.
The only thing Perez finds daunting is the economy, which he says is still slower than it has been in several years. Perez's usual gig is hauling borax from Trona, Calif., for a trucking company that seems committed to getting him enough work to keep up with his $1,600 monthly truck payment. He says it's "a lot more than my home mortgage."
But Rafael Dominguez, 31, said he has had a nightmare experience. Dominguez gave up his rig, a 1997 Volvo, after learning that a retrofit would cost more than the truck was worth. He said he worked out a "lease-to-own" deal in March of last year on a new rig bought by a local trucking company.
But Dominguez said the company, which he declined to identify, kept changing the rules on him, raising what he would have to pay for the lease, which began at $1,640 a month. Dominguez said the company set up an unfairly competitive system under which drivers who did the most work would be allowed to pay less. In November, Dominguez walked away from what he had already paid on the lease and became an employee of another firm.
"As an independent driver, I wasn't really independent at all. I had no rights, no benefits, no paid time off. The trucking company could say 'take it or leave it' and do anything they wanted," Dominguez said.
John Holmes, deputy executive director of operations for the Port of Los Angeles, doesn't know Dominguez or his situation. But he said that the port was trying to push the industry away from a system in which drivers were compelled to "undercut one another, always trying to be $5 cheaper than the next guy, at the expense of the environment."
Toward that end, the port shelled out $44 million in the form of $20,000-per-truck incentives.
"It was pretty clear to us that we were going to have to change the industry in order for this to be successful and sustainable," Holmes said.
Mayor Foster, who went out to view port operations Monday, said the Long Beach plan was "succeeding better than our best hopes" and was proof that his port "can have robust commerce and cleaner air."
Mike Fox has a different perspective. He's owner and chief executive of Fox Transportation Inc., a trucking company in Rancho Cucamonga. He's also one of the principals of the Clean Truck Coalition, a group of 10 small to medium-size family-owned companies that was among the first to apply for the incentive money from Los Angeles, ultimately buying 600 vehicles.
Fox said he wanted the L.A. and Long Beach ports to get out of their court battles and work together on a single plan. That, he said, would end the apprehension some customers feel because of the disputes.
Without a single plan, some businesses might go to other ports where the situation is less confusing.
"Our businesses work with both Los Angeles and Long Beach," Fox said. "We are the home teams, and what we want to see is more business at the ports."
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Weekly Drought Monitor - as of January 5th, 2010
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Homeowners Forced To Buy Flood Insurance After FEMA Redraws Maps
FROM: KTLA DT
LOS ANGELES -- Tens of thousands of homeowners in Southern California are being forced to buy costly flood insurance because new maps issued by a federal agency say they live in a high-risk flood area.
The federal government has informed property owners in more than 150 cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties about the new requirement. Most live near rivers and creeks, below dams or in low- lying areas that are at greater risk of flooding than previously believed, according to maps developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Premiums range from $500 to more than $1,700 a year. Insurance is mandatory for anyone with a federally backed mortgage, and lenders will typically buy policies, sometimes at a higher cost, for property owners who fail to do so on their own. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee more than half of all U.S. mortgages.
Angry homeowners in several parts of Southern California dispute the new maps and have formed groups to challenge them.
In some cases, local governments are paying for studies to challenge FEMA's maps, and in a few cases, the agency has backed down.
The new maps are part of a nationwide effort that FEMA began in 2003 to better identify properties that could flood in a so-called 100-year storm -- the type of deluge that FEMA calculates has a 1% likelihood of occurring in any given year. In much of the country, the redrawn maps greatly increase the number of homes included in flood zones.
Property owners in some areas, including parts of South Los Angeles, have already started paying higher premiums. Homeowners elsewhere in the region expect the new mandate to take effect early this year.
Nada Parham of South Los Angeles is one of many homeowners who have dug into their own pockets to show that their properties don't belong on FEMA's list.
Parham, 55, won her argument with the agency after paying $1,400 to a surveyor. She says she has lived in her 2nd Avenue home her whole life and has never seen anything more than street flooding. She doesn't live near a river or a creek, and the ocean is more than 10 miles away.
"Why would I pay this money for a claim I'm never going to make?" Parham said. "It's ludicrous. You are trying to keep a shelter over your head and trying to take care of the necessities of life, and then here comes a letter that says you have to do this."
FEMA officials say that the map-making process is supposed to be a collaborative one and that local flood-control divisions are given an opportunity to point out errors. Cities and counties are also encouraged to let homeowners know about proposed changes and provide a way for them to comment, said Clark Stevens, a FEMA spokesman.
Critics say that too often, that has not happened. Parham said the first she heard of the new designation was when she received a letter from her lender saying she had 30 days to get a flood-insurance policy.
Officials say they are performing a public service by examining flood risk in residential areas. Requiring flood insurance in high-risk areas could stave off financial disaster for homeowners in the event of a destructive storm, they note.
Through its National Flood Insurance Program, FEMA works with nearly 90 private insurance companies to offer coverage to property owners and renters. The program was created by Congress in 1968.
When FEMA began reevaluating its flood zones, maps in some areas were as much as 40 years old. The agency contracts with local surveyors and hydrologists who use digital mapping technology to combine the topographical environment of a locale with historical climate data, Stevens said.
The models take into account flood-control structures such as levees, canals and drainage systems. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, levees nationwide were reviewed and many were deemed inadequate to keep floodwaters away.
When a levy is decertified, hundreds of new houses can be added to hazard zones. In Oxnard, a large rock levee protecting homes along the Santa Clara River was decertified when FEMA engineers found weaknesses in its ability to withstand large storms. FEMA proposed adding 1,800 homes to the flood zone.
Bert Perello, who heads the Floodzone Justice Assn., an Oxnard group that has protested the maps, said FEMA rushed its update. The agency's own maps contradict each other and include data that his group's findings dispute, he said. The association argues that half of the homes in the new flood zone should not be there.
Late in 2009, FEMA announced it would put off adopting the new flood zones in the Oxnard area for up to three years, allowing time for more detailed engineering studies. Perello said residents are cautiously optimistic.
"I don't bury my head in the sand and not take seriously the threat of a flood," said Perello, a part-time postal carrier. "But if I am going to be put in a flood zone, I want to know it is a fair and legitimate process."
Farther inland in Ventura County, residents of Moorpark have made less progress in their quest to get out from under the new requirement. The City Council agreed to pay for a $100,000 study to determine whether about 900 Moorpark homes were improperly added to a hazard map, and FEMA has agreed to redraw some aspects of it.
But the affected residents will still have to buy flood insurance this month because FEMA would not delay implementation of the new flood-plain designation, said Councilman Keith Millhouse.
"I'm a little bit suspect of FEMA in light of their track record," he said.
South Los Angeles locations were added to the hazard maps primarily because a railroad berm that had been identified as a flood-control structure in a previous map was stripped of that designation in the updated version, said Los Angeles Councilman Bernard Parks.
Parks said his office has received several complaints from residents who were surprised when they received notification that they had to buy flood insurance. The cash-strapped city is asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a grant to conduct a more detailed study on the flooding risk, he said.
"We don't understand how all of this area becomes a flood zone," Parks said.
Isaac Robinson, a retired wood refinisher, said he considered appealing the new flood-plain maps on his own. But the 71-year-old worries that his neighbors will be left with costly premiums even if he is removed from the maps.
"That seems strange to me," Robinson said. Instead, he's taken it upon himself to photograph all of the local streets and has armed himself with sheaves of maps and documents to show that the new hazard zone is based on inaccurate data. For now, he is waiting for the city to get the money to complete a broader study of the area.
"It's kind of unreal," Robinson said, noting he's never seen flooding in his 40 years in the 4th Avenue home. "If my home is destroyed by a flood, then the rest of the city would be gone too."
LOS ANGELES -- Tens of thousands of homeowners in Southern California are being forced to buy costly flood insurance because new maps issued by a federal agency say they live in a high-risk flood area.
The federal government has informed property owners in more than 150 cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties about the new requirement. Most live near rivers and creeks, below dams or in low- lying areas that are at greater risk of flooding than previously believed, according to maps developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Premiums range from $500 to more than $1,700 a year. Insurance is mandatory for anyone with a federally backed mortgage, and lenders will typically buy policies, sometimes at a higher cost, for property owners who fail to do so on their own. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee more than half of all U.S. mortgages.
Angry homeowners in several parts of Southern California dispute the new maps and have formed groups to challenge them.
In some cases, local governments are paying for studies to challenge FEMA's maps, and in a few cases, the agency has backed down.
The new maps are part of a nationwide effort that FEMA began in 2003 to better identify properties that could flood in a so-called 100-year storm -- the type of deluge that FEMA calculates has a 1% likelihood of occurring in any given year. In much of the country, the redrawn maps greatly increase the number of homes included in flood zones.
Property owners in some areas, including parts of South Los Angeles, have already started paying higher premiums. Homeowners elsewhere in the region expect the new mandate to take effect early this year.
Nada Parham of South Los Angeles is one of many homeowners who have dug into their own pockets to show that their properties don't belong on FEMA's list.
Parham, 55, won her argument with the agency after paying $1,400 to a surveyor. She says she has lived in her 2nd Avenue home her whole life and has never seen anything more than street flooding. She doesn't live near a river or a creek, and the ocean is more than 10 miles away.
"Why would I pay this money for a claim I'm never going to make?" Parham said. "It's ludicrous. You are trying to keep a shelter over your head and trying to take care of the necessities of life, and then here comes a letter that says you have to do this."
FEMA officials say that the map-making process is supposed to be a collaborative one and that local flood-control divisions are given an opportunity to point out errors. Cities and counties are also encouraged to let homeowners know about proposed changes and provide a way for them to comment, said Clark Stevens, a FEMA spokesman.
Critics say that too often, that has not happened. Parham said the first she heard of the new designation was when she received a letter from her lender saying she had 30 days to get a flood-insurance policy.
Officials say they are performing a public service by examining flood risk in residential areas. Requiring flood insurance in high-risk areas could stave off financial disaster for homeowners in the event of a destructive storm, they note.
Through its National Flood Insurance Program, FEMA works with nearly 90 private insurance companies to offer coverage to property owners and renters. The program was created by Congress in 1968.
When FEMA began reevaluating its flood zones, maps in some areas were as much as 40 years old. The agency contracts with local surveyors and hydrologists who use digital mapping technology to combine the topographical environment of a locale with historical climate data, Stevens said.
The models take into account flood-control structures such as levees, canals and drainage systems. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, levees nationwide were reviewed and many were deemed inadequate to keep floodwaters away.
When a levy is decertified, hundreds of new houses can be added to hazard zones. In Oxnard, a large rock levee protecting homes along the Santa Clara River was decertified when FEMA engineers found weaknesses in its ability to withstand large storms. FEMA proposed adding 1,800 homes to the flood zone.
Bert Perello, who heads the Floodzone Justice Assn., an Oxnard group that has protested the maps, said FEMA rushed its update. The agency's own maps contradict each other and include data that his group's findings dispute, he said. The association argues that half of the homes in the new flood zone should not be there.
Late in 2009, FEMA announced it would put off adopting the new flood zones in the Oxnard area for up to three years, allowing time for more detailed engineering studies. Perello said residents are cautiously optimistic.
"I don't bury my head in the sand and not take seriously the threat of a flood," said Perello, a part-time postal carrier. "But if I am going to be put in a flood zone, I want to know it is a fair and legitimate process."
Farther inland in Ventura County, residents of Moorpark have made less progress in their quest to get out from under the new requirement. The City Council agreed to pay for a $100,000 study to determine whether about 900 Moorpark homes were improperly added to a hazard map, and FEMA has agreed to redraw some aspects of it.
But the affected residents will still have to buy flood insurance this month because FEMA would not delay implementation of the new flood-plain designation, said Councilman Keith Millhouse.
"I'm a little bit suspect of FEMA in light of their track record," he said.
South Los Angeles locations were added to the hazard maps primarily because a railroad berm that had been identified as a flood-control structure in a previous map was stripped of that designation in the updated version, said Los Angeles Councilman Bernard Parks.
Parks said his office has received several complaints from residents who were surprised when they received notification that they had to buy flood insurance. The cash-strapped city is asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a grant to conduct a more detailed study on the flooding risk, he said.
"We don't understand how all of this area becomes a flood zone," Parks said.
Isaac Robinson, a retired wood refinisher, said he considered appealing the new flood-plain maps on his own. But the 71-year-old worries that his neighbors will be left with costly premiums even if he is removed from the maps.
"That seems strange to me," Robinson said. Instead, he's taken it upon himself to photograph all of the local streets and has armed himself with sheaves of maps and documents to show that the new hazard zone is based on inaccurate data. For now, he is waiting for the city to get the money to complete a broader study of the area.
"It's kind of unreal," Robinson said, noting he's never seen flooding in his 40 years in the 4th Avenue home. "If my home is destroyed by a flood, then the rest of the city would be gone too."
Monday, January 04, 2010
Rare Tortoises Could Stand in Way of California Solar-Energy Complex
FROM: FOX News
Two dozen rare tortoises could stand in the way of a sprawling solar-energy complex in a case that highlights mounting tensions between wilderness conservation and the nation's quest for cleaner power.
LOS ANGELES -- On a strip of California's Mojave Desert, two dozen rare tortoises could stand in the way of a sprawling solar-energy complex in a case that highlights mounting tensions between wilderness conservation and the nation's quest for cleaner power.
Oakland, Calif.-based BrightSource Energy has been pushing for more than two years for permission to erect 400,000 mirrors on the site to gather the sun's energy. It could become the first project of its kind on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property, leaving a footprint for others to follow on vast stretches of public land across the West.
The construction would come with a cost: Government scientists have concluded that more than 6 square miles of habitat for the federally threatened desert tortoise would be permanently lost.
The Sierra Club and other environmentalists want the complex relocated to preserve what they call a near-pristine home for rare plants and wildlife, including the protected tortoise, the Western burrowing owl and bighorn sheep.
"It's actually a good project. It's just located in the wrong place," said Ileene Anderson of the Center for Biological Diversity, a Tucson, Ariz.-based environmental group.
The dispute is likely to echo for years as more companies seek to develop solar, wind and geothermal plants on land treasured by environmentalists who also support the growth of alternative energy. In an area of stark beauty, the question will be what is worth preserving and at what cost as California pushes to generate one-third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
The Bureau of Land Management has received more than 150 applications for large-scale solar projects on 1.8 million acres of federal land in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. In California alone, such projects could claim an area the size of Rhode Island, transforming the state into the world's largest solar farm.
BrightSource Energy wants permission to construct three solar power plants on the site that together would generate enough power each year for 142,000 homes, potentially generating billions of dollars of revenue over time.
The sun's power is used to heat water and make steam, which in turn drives turbines to create electricity. Built in phases, the project would include seven, 459-foot metal towers, a natural gas pipeline, water tanks, steam turbine generators, boilers and buildings for administration and maintenance. Each plant would be surrounded by 8-foot high steel fencing.
The site has virtually unbroken sunshine most of the year, and is near transmission lines that can carry the power to consumers.
In November, federal and state biologists reviewing the plan proposed that the company catch and move the tortoises and preserve 12,000 acres elsewhere, a proposal that could cost BrightSource an estimated $25 million.
John Kessler, a project manager for the California Energy Commission, said there is disagreement with BrightSource over what the company would pay for long-term maintenance for the land that would be purchased, and the company also believes the cost of buying it should be less.
The company declined to comment directly on those issues.
It will likely be months before state and federal regulators considering the plan make a decision on the tortoises' fate.
BrightSource President John Woolard warned in government filings released this month that heavy-handed regulation could kill the proposal. He did not mention the tortoises directly but referred to "unbounded and extreme" requirements being placed on the company.
At a time when the White House is pushing for the rapid development of green power, Woolard predicted the outcome in the California desert would reverberate widely.
The large-scale solar industry "is in its infancy, with great promise to compete with conventional energy," Woolard wrote. "Overburdening this fledgling industry will cause it to be stillborn, ending that promise before it has truly begun."
The Sierra Club wants regulators to move the site closer to Interstate 15, the busy freeway connecting Los Angeles and Las Vegas, to avoid what it says will be a virtual death sentence for the tortoises. Estimates of the population have varied, but government scientists say at least 25 would need to be captured and moved.
The group argues that the reptiles are the "most genetically distinct" of all of California's desert tortoises and point to a 2007 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report that found the tortoise population is dropping in parts of a four-state region that includes California.
"The project must not contribute to additional loss of habitat," the Sierra Club said in government filings.
Roy Averill-Murray, the Fish and Wildlife Service's desert tortoise recovery coordinator, said there are insufficient data to make judgments about the population on the BrightSource site.
Tortoise "populations across the board have declined, but we don't have the same kind of information for this particular patch of ground," Averill-Murray said.
In a statement, BrightSource spokesman Keely Wachs did not address proposals to move all or part of the complex, pledging that the company "will continue to work with the environmental community to ensure that we establish a good example for projects that follow."
In government filings, the company depicts the site near the Nevada line as far from untouched: It has been used for livestock grazing, has been crisscrossed by off-roaders and the boundary of a golf club is a half-mile away.
Except for the tortoise, no other federal or state threatened or endangered animal or plant is on the site, the company said. In 1994 the federal government designated 6.4 million acres as "critical habitat" for the tortoise in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, but the BrightSource site was not included "and is by no means in an area critical to the survival of this species," the company concluded.
The complicated review is being watched closely.
"At this point, there are zero solar-energy projects on public land," said Monique Hanis of the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group. "We are looking for ways to expand the market and reduce barriers ... and get more of these projects moving."
Two dozen rare tortoises could stand in the way of a sprawling solar-energy complex in a case that highlights mounting tensions between wilderness conservation and the nation's quest for cleaner power.
LOS ANGELES -- On a strip of California's Mojave Desert, two dozen rare tortoises could stand in the way of a sprawling solar-energy complex in a case that highlights mounting tensions between wilderness conservation and the nation's quest for cleaner power.
Oakland, Calif.-based BrightSource Energy has been pushing for more than two years for permission to erect 400,000 mirrors on the site to gather the sun's energy. It could become the first project of its kind on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property, leaving a footprint for others to follow on vast stretches of public land across the West.
The construction would come with a cost: Government scientists have concluded that more than 6 square miles of habitat for the federally threatened desert tortoise would be permanently lost.
The Sierra Club and other environmentalists want the complex relocated to preserve what they call a near-pristine home for rare plants and wildlife, including the protected tortoise, the Western burrowing owl and bighorn sheep.
"It's actually a good project. It's just located in the wrong place," said Ileene Anderson of the Center for Biological Diversity, a Tucson, Ariz.-based environmental group.
The dispute is likely to echo for years as more companies seek to develop solar, wind and geothermal plants on land treasured by environmentalists who also support the growth of alternative energy. In an area of stark beauty, the question will be what is worth preserving and at what cost as California pushes to generate one-third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
The Bureau of Land Management has received more than 150 applications for large-scale solar projects on 1.8 million acres of federal land in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. In California alone, such projects could claim an area the size of Rhode Island, transforming the state into the world's largest solar farm.
BrightSource Energy wants permission to construct three solar power plants on the site that together would generate enough power each year for 142,000 homes, potentially generating billions of dollars of revenue over time.
The sun's power is used to heat water and make steam, which in turn drives turbines to create electricity. Built in phases, the project would include seven, 459-foot metal towers, a natural gas pipeline, water tanks, steam turbine generators, boilers and buildings for administration and maintenance. Each plant would be surrounded by 8-foot high steel fencing.
The site has virtually unbroken sunshine most of the year, and is near transmission lines that can carry the power to consumers.
In November, federal and state biologists reviewing the plan proposed that the company catch and move the tortoises and preserve 12,000 acres elsewhere, a proposal that could cost BrightSource an estimated $25 million.
John Kessler, a project manager for the California Energy Commission, said there is disagreement with BrightSource over what the company would pay for long-term maintenance for the land that would be purchased, and the company also believes the cost of buying it should be less.
The company declined to comment directly on those issues.
It will likely be months before state and federal regulators considering the plan make a decision on the tortoises' fate.
BrightSource President John Woolard warned in government filings released this month that heavy-handed regulation could kill the proposal. He did not mention the tortoises directly but referred to "unbounded and extreme" requirements being placed on the company.
At a time when the White House is pushing for the rapid development of green power, Woolard predicted the outcome in the California desert would reverberate widely.
The large-scale solar industry "is in its infancy, with great promise to compete with conventional energy," Woolard wrote. "Overburdening this fledgling industry will cause it to be stillborn, ending that promise before it has truly begun."
The Sierra Club wants regulators to move the site closer to Interstate 15, the busy freeway connecting Los Angeles and Las Vegas, to avoid what it says will be a virtual death sentence for the tortoises. Estimates of the population have varied, but government scientists say at least 25 would need to be captured and moved.
The group argues that the reptiles are the "most genetically distinct" of all of California's desert tortoises and point to a 2007 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report that found the tortoise population is dropping in parts of a four-state region that includes California.
"The project must not contribute to additional loss of habitat," the Sierra Club said in government filings.
Roy Averill-Murray, the Fish and Wildlife Service's desert tortoise recovery coordinator, said there are insufficient data to make judgments about the population on the BrightSource site.
Tortoise "populations across the board have declined, but we don't have the same kind of information for this particular patch of ground," Averill-Murray said.
In a statement, BrightSource spokesman Keely Wachs did not address proposals to move all or part of the complex, pledging that the company "will continue to work with the environmental community to ensure that we establish a good example for projects that follow."
In government filings, the company depicts the site near the Nevada line as far from untouched: It has been used for livestock grazing, has been crisscrossed by off-roaders and the boundary of a golf club is a half-mile away.
Except for the tortoise, no other federal or state threatened or endangered animal or plant is on the site, the company said. In 1994 the federal government designated 6.4 million acres as "critical habitat" for the tortoise in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, but the BrightSource site was not included "and is by no means in an area critical to the survival of this species," the company concluded.
The complicated review is being watched closely.
"At this point, there are zero solar-energy projects on public land," said Monique Hanis of the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group. "We are looking for ways to expand the market and reduce barriers ... and get more of these projects moving."
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Green resolutions for 2010
FROM: San Diego Union-Tribune
By Jennifer Davies, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
It’s the time of year when you pledge to do lots of things, from losing weight to staying organized to saving money. Why not add helping the planet to your list of resolutions? If you’re not sure where to start, check out some (relatively painless) suggestions below:
Water conservation: Purchase a timer to help you reduce the length of your showers, recommends Morgan Justice-Black, an outreach coordinator at I Love a Clean San Diego, a local environmental group. Try to cut your shower time by one minute per week with the ultimate goal of having a five-minute shower.
Volunteer: Pick an area of San Diego that you care about — from the beaches to the bays to the parks — and spend a day helping clean it up. I Love a Clean San Diego coordinates the Adopt-a-Beach program. Go to adoptsd.org or call (619) 291-0103 to find out more. Other organizations that could use your help include San Diego Coastkeeper (sdcoastkeeper.org or 619-758-7743), Surfrider Foundation (surfridersd.org or 858-792-9940) and the San Diego Riverpark Foundation (sandiegoriver.org or 619-297-7380).
Junk the junk mail: It’s estimated that more than 1 trillion pieces of junk mail are sent every year. Luckily, there are a few sites that will shut off the flow of useless fliers. Go to dmachoice.org or donotmail.org to find out more. To get out of those endless credit card and insurance offers, all you need to do is go to optoutprescreen.com or call (888) 567-8688.
Bag the (plastic) bags: Cut the clutter and help the environment by bringing your own reusable bags on every shopping trip, whether it be to the grocery store or the department store. The key, of course, is to remember to bring your bags. One way to ensure you have one on hand is to carry a small fold-up bag in your purse. One cool option is Flip & Tumble bags, which shrink to the size of a peach and come in a variety of cool colors. They cost about $12 and are available at flipandtumble.com.
Bottled out: End your expensive addiction to bottled water. It will benefit your pocketbook and the environment. If you’re looking for a sturdy, reusable water bottle, green experts recommend going with one made of stainless steel.
One respected brand is Klean Kanteen, which has a 27-ounce stainless steel water bottle that goes for about $20.
By Jennifer Davies, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
It’s the time of year when you pledge to do lots of things, from losing weight to staying organized to saving money. Why not add helping the planet to your list of resolutions? If you’re not sure where to start, check out some (relatively painless) suggestions below:
Water conservation: Purchase a timer to help you reduce the length of your showers, recommends Morgan Justice-Black, an outreach coordinator at I Love a Clean San Diego, a local environmental group. Try to cut your shower time by one minute per week with the ultimate goal of having a five-minute shower.
Volunteer: Pick an area of San Diego that you care about — from the beaches to the bays to the parks — and spend a day helping clean it up. I Love a Clean San Diego coordinates the Adopt-a-Beach program. Go to adoptsd.org or call (619) 291-0103 to find out more. Other organizations that could use your help include San Diego Coastkeeper (sdcoastkeeper.org or 619-758-7743), Surfrider Foundation (surfridersd.org or 858-792-9940) and the San Diego Riverpark Foundation (sandiegoriver.org or 619-297-7380).
Junk the junk mail: It’s estimated that more than 1 trillion pieces of junk mail are sent every year. Luckily, there are a few sites that will shut off the flow of useless fliers. Go to dmachoice.org or donotmail.org to find out more. To get out of those endless credit card and insurance offers, all you need to do is go to optoutprescreen.com or call (888) 567-8688.
Bag the (plastic) bags: Cut the clutter and help the environment by bringing your own reusable bags on every shopping trip, whether it be to the grocery store or the department store. The key, of course, is to remember to bring your bags. One way to ensure you have one on hand is to carry a small fold-up bag in your purse. One cool option is Flip & Tumble bags, which shrink to the size of a peach and come in a variety of cool colors. They cost about $12 and are available at flipandtumble.com.
Bottled out: End your expensive addiction to bottled water. It will benefit your pocketbook and the environment. If you’re looking for a sturdy, reusable water bottle, green experts recommend going with one made of stainless steel.
One respected brand is Klean Kanteen, which has a 27-ounce stainless steel water bottle that goes for about $20.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Weekly Drought Monitor - as of December 29th, 2009
Friday, January 01, 2010
2009 Year in Review
FROM: NWS in San Diego
***Sorry about ALLCAPS***
JANUARY: JANUARY SEEMED LIKE SUMMER RATHER THAN WINTER. A LARGE
BLOCKING RIDGE AND OFFSHORE FLOW KEPT THE WINTER WEATHER OUT AND THE
HEAT IN. MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE BROKEN ON NINE
DAYS...WHILE RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE BROKEN ON EIGHT
DAYS. ON JANUARY 15TH THE TEMPERATURE AT THE WILD ANIMAL PARK IN SAN
PASQUAL REACHED 94 DEGREES...SHATTERING THEIR OLD RECORD OF 85
DEGREES SET IN 2000. ON JANUARY 13TH THE SANTA ANA FIRE STATION SET
A RECORD FOR ITS WARMEST EVER MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OF
JANUARY AND THE ENTIRE WINTER SEASON...73 DEGREES. THE OLD RECORD
FOR JANUARY WAS 71 DEGREES ON JANUARY 7 2003. THE OLD RECORD FOR
THE SEASON WAS 72 DEGREES ON FEBRUARY 26 1926.
FEBRUARY: THE WINTER PATTERN RETURNED IN FEBRUARY. A SERIES OF
STORMS FROM THE 5TH THROUGH THE 9TH BROUGHT PERIODS OF RAIN AND
MOUNTAIN SNOW. COASTAL AND VALLEY LOCATIONS RECEIVED AROUND 2
INCHES OF RAIN...WHILE MOUNTAIN AND FOOTHILL LOCATIONS RECEIVED
ANYWHERE FROM 2 TO 5 INCHES. THE DESERTS ALSO GOT SOME RAIN OUT OF
THESE SYSTEMS THOUGH TOTALS WERE LESS THAN 1 INCH. THE STRONGEST
STORM MOVED THROUGH ON THE 9TH...BRINGING 1 TO 3 FEET OF SNOW TO THE
MOUNTAINS. AVALANCHES...THUNDERSTORMS...AND A WATERSPOUT OFF THE
COAST OF ENCINITAS WERE ALSO REPORTED WITH THIS SYSTEM. ANOTHER
LARGE SYSTEM MOVED THROUGH ON THE 16TH AND 17TH...BRINGING EVEN MORE
HEAVY RAIN AND SNOW TO THE REGION. THE SNOW DEPTH AT BIG BEAR LAKE
REACHED AN IMPRESSIVE 48 INCHES.
MARCH: STRONG ONSHORE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS COUPLED WITH A
STRONG JET GENERATED GUSTY WINDS WHICH MAINLY IMPACTED THE MOUNTAINS
AND DESERTS ON THE 22ND. THE DAMAGING WINDS KNOCKED DOWN
TREES...POWER LINES...AND ROAD SIGNS. THE WINDS ALSO KICKED UP DUST
IN THE COACHELLA VALLEY...REDUCING VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN TWO MILES
AT TIMES.
APRIL: APRIL STARTED WITH GUSTY ONSHORE WINDS ON THE 3RD. MINOR
DAMAGE WAS REPORTED IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. A 50 ACRE BRUSH
FIRE FUELED BY THE WINDS IN PALM SPRINGS DAMAGED TWO HOMES. A TROUGH
MOVING THROUGH ON THE 10TH AND 11TH PRODUCED SOME SHOWERS AND
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. ON APRIL 19TH AND 20TH...STRONG HIGH
PRESSURE ALOFT AND WEAK OFFSHORE FLOW BROUGHT RECORD BREAKING HEAT
TO THE REGION. BETWEEN THE TWO DAYS...27 MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS
WERE BROKEN AND ONE WAS TIED. SEVERAL INLAND LOCATIONS RECORDED
TEMPERATURES OVER 100 DEGREES. IT WAS A TOASTY DAY AT THE BEACHES AS
WELL WITH SOME COASTAL LOCATIONS RECORDING TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER
90S.
MAY: A 503 ACRE BRUSH FIRE IN THE LAKE PERRIS AREA CLOSED DOWN
SEVERAL ROADS AND CAMP SITES ON THE 27TH AND 28TH. ON THE
29TH...STRONG WINDS FROM A THUNDERSTORM IN HESPERIA DAMAGED SEVERAL
HORSE SHELTERS.
JUNE: THE MOST NOTABLE EVENT IN JUNE OCCURRED ON THE 3RD...WHEN LOW
PRESSURE OFF THE COAST OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AND MOIST SW FLOW ALOFT
TRIGGERED NUMEROUS ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS WHICH STRETCHED FROM THE
SAN DIEGO BAY AREA ALL THE WAY UP TO THE HIGH DESERT. OVER 1500
CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES WERE DETECTED...STARTING AROUND 70
BRUSH FIRES. MOST OF THE STORMS PRODUCED LITTLE RAIN AND SMALL HAIL.
ONE CELL THAT MOVED THROUGH DEL MAR PRODUCED QUARTER SIZED (ONE INCH
DIAMETER) HAIL.
JULY: ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OCCURED ON SEVERAL DAYS DURING THE
MONTH...THOUGH ONLY BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND SOME GUSTY WINDS WERE
REPORTED. THE REAL EXCITEMENT FOR THE MONTH WAS AT THE BEACHES ON
THE 24TH THROUGH 26TH. A 4 FT 18 SECOND PERIOD SOUTH SWELL MOVED
INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ON THE 24TH...GENERATING HIGH SURF AND
STRONG RIP CURRENTS ALONG SOUTH FACING BEACHES. THE SURF WAS
GENERALLY AROUND 8 TO 10 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SETS TO 12 FEET. AT
THE WEDGE IN NEWPORT BEACH...SETS WERE AS HIGH AS 20 FEET. THERE
WERE HUNDREDS...PERHAPS THOUSANDS...OF LIFEGUARD RESCUES DUE TO THE
SURF AND RIP CURRENTS. A FEW PIERS SUSTAINED SOME MINOR STRUCTURAL
DAMAGE FROM THE LARGE WAVES.
AUGUST: THE FIRE SEASON GOT OFF TO A BLAZING START THE LAST WEEK OF
AUGUST. THE COTTONWOOD...OAK GLEN...AND PENDLETON FIRES IN THE SAN
BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS BURNED A COMBINED 4428 ACRES AND COST
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO FIGHT.
SEPTEMBER: ON THE 2ND...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN SAN DIEGO AND
RIVERSIDE COUNTIES PRODUCED SMALL HAIL AND SOME FLASH FLOODING. ON
THE 5TH...A MASSIVE THUNDERSTORM FORMED NEAR OCOTILLO WELLS IN THE
SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERT. THE STORM...WHICH GREW TO OVER 60 THOUSAND
FEET TALL...HAD AN IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY OF MAMMATUS CLOUDS WHICH COULD
BE SEEN ALL THE WAY FROM THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY COAST. THE STORM
PRODUCED FLASH FLOODING...LARGE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS. RADAR
IMAGERY ALSO INDICATED VERY STRONG ANTI-CYCLONIC ROTATION IN THE
STORM...THOUGH NO FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE REPORTED.
OCTOBER: A HUGE WINTER STORM CENTERED OFF THE OREGON COAST BROUGHT
HEAVY RAIN TO MUCH OF CALIFORNIA. PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ORANGE AND
EXTREME SOUTHWEST SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES RECEIVED 1 TO 3 INCHES OF
RAIN...WHILE THE REST OF THE AREA HAD 1/4 INCH OR LESS.
NOVEMBER: EXTREME SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FINALLY GOT SOME MUCH NEEDED
RAIN ON THE 28TH. A COLD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING OVER SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA BROUGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS...PEA
SIZE HAIL...WATERSPOUTS AND MOUNTAIN SNOW. RAINFALL TOTALS IN SAN
DIEGO COUNTY RANGED FROM ABOUT 0.10 TO OVER 1 INCH...WHILE MOST
AREAS TO THE NORTH RECEIVED LESS THAN 0.50 INCHES. A NEARLY
STATIONARY THUNDERSTORM NEAR THE CAJON PASS PRODUCED OVER AN INCH OF
RAIN IN DEVORE AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS.
DECEMBER: A SERIES OF WINTER STORMS IMPACTED SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THE
SECOND WEEK OF DECEMBER. ON THE 7TH...A STRONG STORM MOVING IN FROM
THE WEST BROUGHT WIDESPREAD RAIN...MOUNTAINS SNOW...AND HIGH WINDS.
BIG BEAR REPORTED 12 INCHES OF SNOW. COASTAL AND VALLEY AREAS
RECEIVED BETWEEN 1 AND 2.5 INCHES...WHILE RAINFALL TOTALS IN THE
MOUNTAINS RANGED FROM ABOUT 1.25 TO ALMOST 5 INCHES. THE DESERTS
RECEIVED 0.25 TO OVER 1 INCH. PALM SPRINGS BROKE THEIR 24 HOUR
RAINFALL RECORD WITH 1.12 INCHES. THE OLD RECORD WAS 0.90 INCHES SET
IN 1992. A COUPLE WEAK SYSTEMS MOVED THROUGH BETWEEN THE 11TH AND
13TH...BRINGING 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN TO THE COASTS AND VALLEYS AND
ONE TO OVER 5 INCHES OF RAIN TO THE MOUNTAINS. ANOTHER WEAK TROUGH
ON THE 22ND BROUGHT MOSTLY LIGHT RAIN TO THE AREA...WITH TOTALS
GENERALLY LESS THAN 0.50 INCHES. STRONG WINDS ACCOMPANIED THE
TROUGH...WITH THE HIGHEST WINDS IMPACTING THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS.
A FEW LOCATIONS REPORTED GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.
* THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED AT LINDBERGH FIELD FOR 2009 WAS
98 DEGREES ON APRIL 20TH...SETTING A NEW RECORD FOR THE DAY. THE
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 93 DEGREES IN 1899. IT ALSO TIED THE RECORD HIGH
TEMPERATURE FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF APRIL...WHICH LAST OCCURRED ON
APRIL 6 1989.
* THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED AT LINDBERGH FIELD FOR 2009 WAS
42 DEGREES ON JANUARY 5TH AND DECEMBER 25TH.
* LINDBERGH RECEIVED A RECORD BREAKING 1.56 INCHES OF RAIN ON
DECEMBER 7TH. THE OLD RECORD FOR THE DAY WAS 1.15 INCHES SET IN
1992. DESPITE THIS...LINDBERGH WILL END THE YEAR BELOW NORMAL WITH A
YEARLY TOTAL OF ONLY 5.50 INCHES.
* THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED IN THE COUNTY WARNING AREA WAS
120 DEGREES AT MECCA ON AUGUST 28TH. THE LOWEST WAS BALDWIN LAKE
WITH A CHILLY -1 DEGREE ON FEBRUARY 18TH AND 19TH.
* THE GREATEST ONE DAY SNOWFALL TOTAL WAS 19.2 INCHES AT BIG BEAR
LAKE ON FEBRUARY 9TH. ANOTHER 14.5 INCHES FELL ON THE 16TH WITH TWO
MORE INCHES ON THE 17TH...BRINGING THE SNOW DEPTH AT BIG BEAR LAKE
TO 48 INCHES.
* THE GREATEST ONE DAY RAINFALL TOTAL WAS 4.66 INCHES AT PALOMAR
MOUNTAIN ON DECEMBER 13TH. ON THAT DAY...BIG BEAR LAKE REPORTED 2.70
INCHES AND LAKE ARROWHEAD REPORTED 3.40 INCHES.
***Sorry about ALLCAPS***
JANUARY: JANUARY SEEMED LIKE SUMMER RATHER THAN WINTER. A LARGE
BLOCKING RIDGE AND OFFSHORE FLOW KEPT THE WINTER WEATHER OUT AND THE
HEAT IN. MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE BROKEN ON NINE
DAYS...WHILE RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE BROKEN ON EIGHT
DAYS. ON JANUARY 15TH THE TEMPERATURE AT THE WILD ANIMAL PARK IN SAN
PASQUAL REACHED 94 DEGREES...SHATTERING THEIR OLD RECORD OF 85
DEGREES SET IN 2000. ON JANUARY 13TH THE SANTA ANA FIRE STATION SET
A RECORD FOR ITS WARMEST EVER MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OF
JANUARY AND THE ENTIRE WINTER SEASON...73 DEGREES. THE OLD RECORD
FOR JANUARY WAS 71 DEGREES ON JANUARY 7 2003. THE OLD RECORD FOR
THE SEASON WAS 72 DEGREES ON FEBRUARY 26 1926.
FEBRUARY: THE WINTER PATTERN RETURNED IN FEBRUARY. A SERIES OF
STORMS FROM THE 5TH THROUGH THE 9TH BROUGHT PERIODS OF RAIN AND
MOUNTAIN SNOW. COASTAL AND VALLEY LOCATIONS RECEIVED AROUND 2
INCHES OF RAIN...WHILE MOUNTAIN AND FOOTHILL LOCATIONS RECEIVED
ANYWHERE FROM 2 TO 5 INCHES. THE DESERTS ALSO GOT SOME RAIN OUT OF
THESE SYSTEMS THOUGH TOTALS WERE LESS THAN 1 INCH. THE STRONGEST
STORM MOVED THROUGH ON THE 9TH...BRINGING 1 TO 3 FEET OF SNOW TO THE
MOUNTAINS. AVALANCHES...THUNDERSTORMS...AND A WATERSPOUT OFF THE
COAST OF ENCINITAS WERE ALSO REPORTED WITH THIS SYSTEM. ANOTHER
LARGE SYSTEM MOVED THROUGH ON THE 16TH AND 17TH...BRINGING EVEN MORE
HEAVY RAIN AND SNOW TO THE REGION. THE SNOW DEPTH AT BIG BEAR LAKE
REACHED AN IMPRESSIVE 48 INCHES.
MARCH: STRONG ONSHORE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS COUPLED WITH A
STRONG JET GENERATED GUSTY WINDS WHICH MAINLY IMPACTED THE MOUNTAINS
AND DESERTS ON THE 22ND. THE DAMAGING WINDS KNOCKED DOWN
TREES...POWER LINES...AND ROAD SIGNS. THE WINDS ALSO KICKED UP DUST
IN THE COACHELLA VALLEY...REDUCING VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN TWO MILES
AT TIMES.
APRIL: APRIL STARTED WITH GUSTY ONSHORE WINDS ON THE 3RD. MINOR
DAMAGE WAS REPORTED IN THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS. A 50 ACRE BRUSH
FIRE FUELED BY THE WINDS IN PALM SPRINGS DAMAGED TWO HOMES. A TROUGH
MOVING THROUGH ON THE 10TH AND 11TH PRODUCED SOME SHOWERS AND
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. ON APRIL 19TH AND 20TH...STRONG HIGH
PRESSURE ALOFT AND WEAK OFFSHORE FLOW BROUGHT RECORD BREAKING HEAT
TO THE REGION. BETWEEN THE TWO DAYS...27 MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS
WERE BROKEN AND ONE WAS TIED. SEVERAL INLAND LOCATIONS RECORDED
TEMPERATURES OVER 100 DEGREES. IT WAS A TOASTY DAY AT THE BEACHES AS
WELL WITH SOME COASTAL LOCATIONS RECORDING TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER
90S.
MAY: A 503 ACRE BRUSH FIRE IN THE LAKE PERRIS AREA CLOSED DOWN
SEVERAL ROADS AND CAMP SITES ON THE 27TH AND 28TH. ON THE
29TH...STRONG WINDS FROM A THUNDERSTORM IN HESPERIA DAMAGED SEVERAL
HORSE SHELTERS.
JUNE: THE MOST NOTABLE EVENT IN JUNE OCCURRED ON THE 3RD...WHEN LOW
PRESSURE OFF THE COAST OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AND MOIST SW FLOW ALOFT
TRIGGERED NUMEROUS ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS WHICH STRETCHED FROM THE
SAN DIEGO BAY AREA ALL THE WAY UP TO THE HIGH DESERT. OVER 1500
CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES WERE DETECTED...STARTING AROUND 70
BRUSH FIRES. MOST OF THE STORMS PRODUCED LITTLE RAIN AND SMALL HAIL.
ONE CELL THAT MOVED THROUGH DEL MAR PRODUCED QUARTER SIZED (ONE INCH
DIAMETER) HAIL.
JULY: ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OCCURED ON SEVERAL DAYS DURING THE
MONTH...THOUGH ONLY BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND SOME GUSTY WINDS WERE
REPORTED. THE REAL EXCITEMENT FOR THE MONTH WAS AT THE BEACHES ON
THE 24TH THROUGH 26TH. A 4 FT 18 SECOND PERIOD SOUTH SWELL MOVED
INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ON THE 24TH...GENERATING HIGH SURF AND
STRONG RIP CURRENTS ALONG SOUTH FACING BEACHES. THE SURF WAS
GENERALLY AROUND 8 TO 10 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SETS TO 12 FEET. AT
THE WEDGE IN NEWPORT BEACH...SETS WERE AS HIGH AS 20 FEET. THERE
WERE HUNDREDS...PERHAPS THOUSANDS...OF LIFEGUARD RESCUES DUE TO THE
SURF AND RIP CURRENTS. A FEW PIERS SUSTAINED SOME MINOR STRUCTURAL
DAMAGE FROM THE LARGE WAVES.
AUGUST: THE FIRE SEASON GOT OFF TO A BLAZING START THE LAST WEEK OF
AUGUST. THE COTTONWOOD...OAK GLEN...AND PENDLETON FIRES IN THE SAN
BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS BURNED A COMBINED 4428 ACRES AND COST
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO FIGHT.
SEPTEMBER: ON THE 2ND...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN SAN DIEGO AND
RIVERSIDE COUNTIES PRODUCED SMALL HAIL AND SOME FLASH FLOODING. ON
THE 5TH...A MASSIVE THUNDERSTORM FORMED NEAR OCOTILLO WELLS IN THE
SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERT. THE STORM...WHICH GREW TO OVER 60 THOUSAND
FEET TALL...HAD AN IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY OF MAMMATUS CLOUDS WHICH COULD
BE SEEN ALL THE WAY FROM THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY COAST. THE STORM
PRODUCED FLASH FLOODING...LARGE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS. RADAR
IMAGERY ALSO INDICATED VERY STRONG ANTI-CYCLONIC ROTATION IN THE
STORM...THOUGH NO FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE REPORTED.
OCTOBER: A HUGE WINTER STORM CENTERED OFF THE OREGON COAST BROUGHT
HEAVY RAIN TO MUCH OF CALIFORNIA. PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ORANGE AND
EXTREME SOUTHWEST SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES RECEIVED 1 TO 3 INCHES OF
RAIN...WHILE THE REST OF THE AREA HAD 1/4 INCH OR LESS.
NOVEMBER: EXTREME SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FINALLY GOT SOME MUCH NEEDED
RAIN ON THE 28TH. A COLD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING OVER SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA BROUGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS...PEA
SIZE HAIL...WATERSPOUTS AND MOUNTAIN SNOW. RAINFALL TOTALS IN SAN
DIEGO COUNTY RANGED FROM ABOUT 0.10 TO OVER 1 INCH...WHILE MOST
AREAS TO THE NORTH RECEIVED LESS THAN 0.50 INCHES. A NEARLY
STATIONARY THUNDERSTORM NEAR THE CAJON PASS PRODUCED OVER AN INCH OF
RAIN IN DEVORE AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS.
DECEMBER: A SERIES OF WINTER STORMS IMPACTED SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THE
SECOND WEEK OF DECEMBER. ON THE 7TH...A STRONG STORM MOVING IN FROM
THE WEST BROUGHT WIDESPREAD RAIN...MOUNTAINS SNOW...AND HIGH WINDS.
BIG BEAR REPORTED 12 INCHES OF SNOW. COASTAL AND VALLEY AREAS
RECEIVED BETWEEN 1 AND 2.5 INCHES...WHILE RAINFALL TOTALS IN THE
MOUNTAINS RANGED FROM ABOUT 1.25 TO ALMOST 5 INCHES. THE DESERTS
RECEIVED 0.25 TO OVER 1 INCH. PALM SPRINGS BROKE THEIR 24 HOUR
RAINFALL RECORD WITH 1.12 INCHES. THE OLD RECORD WAS 0.90 INCHES SET
IN 1992. A COUPLE WEAK SYSTEMS MOVED THROUGH BETWEEN THE 11TH AND
13TH...BRINGING 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN TO THE COASTS AND VALLEYS AND
ONE TO OVER 5 INCHES OF RAIN TO THE MOUNTAINS. ANOTHER WEAK TROUGH
ON THE 22ND BROUGHT MOSTLY LIGHT RAIN TO THE AREA...WITH TOTALS
GENERALLY LESS THAN 0.50 INCHES. STRONG WINDS ACCOMPANIED THE
TROUGH...WITH THE HIGHEST WINDS IMPACTING THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS.
A FEW LOCATIONS REPORTED GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.
* THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED AT LINDBERGH FIELD FOR 2009 WAS
98 DEGREES ON APRIL 20TH...SETTING A NEW RECORD FOR THE DAY. THE
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 93 DEGREES IN 1899. IT ALSO TIED THE RECORD HIGH
TEMPERATURE FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF APRIL...WHICH LAST OCCURRED ON
APRIL 6 1989.
* THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED AT LINDBERGH FIELD FOR 2009 WAS
42 DEGREES ON JANUARY 5TH AND DECEMBER 25TH.
* LINDBERGH RECEIVED A RECORD BREAKING 1.56 INCHES OF RAIN ON
DECEMBER 7TH. THE OLD RECORD FOR THE DAY WAS 1.15 INCHES SET IN
1992. DESPITE THIS...LINDBERGH WILL END THE YEAR BELOW NORMAL WITH A
YEARLY TOTAL OF ONLY 5.50 INCHES.
* THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED IN THE COUNTY WARNING AREA WAS
120 DEGREES AT MECCA ON AUGUST 28TH. THE LOWEST WAS BALDWIN LAKE
WITH A CHILLY -1 DEGREE ON FEBRUARY 18TH AND 19TH.
* THE GREATEST ONE DAY SNOWFALL TOTAL WAS 19.2 INCHES AT BIG BEAR
LAKE ON FEBRUARY 9TH. ANOTHER 14.5 INCHES FELL ON THE 16TH WITH TWO
MORE INCHES ON THE 17TH...BRINGING THE SNOW DEPTH AT BIG BEAR LAKE
TO 48 INCHES.
* THE GREATEST ONE DAY RAINFALL TOTAL WAS 4.66 INCHES AT PALOMAR
MOUNTAIN ON DECEMBER 13TH. ON THAT DAY...BIG BEAR LAKE REPORTED 2.70
INCHES AND LAKE ARROWHEAD REPORTED 3.40 INCHES.
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