California’s drought conditions have worsened over the past week with the percentage of the state suffering from the highest category increasing, the National Weather Service said Thursday.
“Exceptional” drought conditions have spread in Central California since a week ago, weather officials said.
Areas in Northern California have also moved into this category since last week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Almost 33% of the state faces exceptional conditions. About 25% of the state faced those conditions last week.
A year ago, no part of the state was in exceptional drought conditions, the weather service said.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-drought-worsens-across-california-20140619-story.html
According to a new federal climate report, those were anything but blips. California is baking in its hottest year on record.
Temperatures between January and May averaged 5 degrees warmer than the 20th century average, a finding that federal scientists say is further indication that the planet is heating up – and posing greater risks for devastating wildfires, water shortages and rising sea levels.
“It’s kind of an exclamation point on the long-term warming trend,” said Jake Crouch, a climate scientist for the National Climatic Data Center.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Burn-notice-California-seeing-hottest-year-on-5548755.php
Based on 106 years of record, only 13 percent of years have been Critically Dry. But the odds facing California for next year aren’t as good. In the Sacramento Valley — the state’s largest source of water supply — there’s a 29 percent chance that the 2014-15 water year will also be Critically Dry, and a 64 percent chance that it will be Dry or Critically Dry.
In all, there’s a 71 percent chance that next year will be Below Normal or drier and only a 29 percent chance of experiencing an Above Normal or Wet year.
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