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California is free of drought for the first time in 25 years

latimes.com

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Re: California is free of drought for the first time in 25 years

#171

Post by dcrazy »

Izikiel43 wrote: post #131
michaeldh wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CA, apparently, grows almonds for the entire United States, and 80% of the world's almonds, too.

Sure, I'm not saying they don't, but it isn't a critical crop for day to day life, biologically speaking. No one is going to die for not eating almonds. Is it economically important? For sure. Is it critical for living? No.

We don’t decide what to grow based on what someone decides is “critical for living.” We decide what to grow based on what sells for a decent margin above cost. Some countries in the Eastern Hemisphere tried the first way and it didn’t work out very well.

Re: California is free of drought for the first time in 25 years

#172

Post by xedrac »

apitman wrote: post #47
lisper wrote: post #25

Ironically, the rest of the country is having a drought: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/01/18/winter-dro...

Bone dry here in Utah. Just as local government has been lowering their guard on the Great Salt Lake issue due to a couple strong snowpack years. Really hope we're proactive in response to the lack of snow.

Yeah, I want another 950" of snow at Alta Ski Resort again. That year - 2023 I think, was unreal!

Re: California is free of drought for the first time in 25 years

#173

Post by dcrazy »

NeutralCrane wrote: post #90
jedberg wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

California actually produced the most food of any state. :). But I know what you mean, the water is just as critical in the middle of the country as it is on the edges. Water is critical everywhere, and this problem is just going to get worse and worse.

California leads in the value of goods sold, because it produces a lot of relatively expensive agricultural products like almonds, avocados, tomatoes, etc. Additionally, it’s a larger state, so it naturally will inflate the totals. If you look at food staples, and at the amount produced by square mile, the Midwest is definitely the main food producer of the US.

A 1 square mile state that produced nothing but wheat would beat any other state in terms of “amount of staples produced per square mile,” but it wouldn’t be able to sustain a population. That’s not a useful metric.

Re: California is free of drought for the first time in 25 years

#176

Post by wbl »

dilyevsky wrote: post #60
cdrnsf wrote: post #21

I've lived in California my whole life (and the same town for most of that). This was the most rain I can remember in decades and the most "destruction" I've seen caused by it. Between the ground being saturated and wind before/after/during the storms there were plenty of downed trees. We were also down to running sprinklers once a week (lawns are silly), but have had them off entirely for a bit now.

not even close to 2023 or 2017 seasons here in norcal, not by a mile...

I am so sad I missed 2023. But now I have the skills to really enjoy the next dump.

Re: California is free of drought for the first time in 25 years

#177

Post by willturman »

gosub100 wrote: post #128
ignoramous wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unironically, wet / dry cycles isn't good news for California either. Research published in the aftermath of the fire examines how this extremely wet to extremely dry weather sequence is especially dangerous for wildfires in Southern California because heavy rainfall leads to high growth of grass and brush, which then becomes abundant fuel during periods of extreme dryness.

wildfire is part of nature.

Yes, of course, those natural wildfires started by downed power infrastructure [1], bullets [2], and campfires on red flag days [3].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Fire

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldor_Fire

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davis_Fire

Re: California is free of drought for the first time in 25 years

#178

Post by fc417fc802 »

b00ty4breakfast wrote: post #138
ignoramous wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unironically, wet / dry cycles isn't good news for California either. Research published in the aftermath of the fire examines how this extremely wet to extremely dry weather sequence is especially dangerous for wildfires in Southern California because heavy rainfall leads to high growth of grass and brush, which then becomes abundant fuel during periods of extreme dryness.

I wonder how much of an effect human activity has on these cycles. Obviously, there are cycles within nature that don't include human activity but is this particular "equilibrium" (if we could call it that) the result of human settlements and all that entails or have they always happened this way but without a huge chunk of the population being in the midst of these modulations to witness it and be affected by it.

Depends on how you quantify human impact. Lodgepole Pine (for example) is fire adapted. That's not something that evolved overnight. So it's safe to say that broad swaths of California have been experiencing a feast-famine cycle since before humanity developed agriculture.

Re: California is free of drought for the first time in 25 years

#180

Post by dilyevsky »

wbl wrote: post #176
dilyevsky wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not even close to 2023 or 2017 seasons here in norcal, not by a mile...

I am so sad I missed 2023. But now I have the skills to really enjoy the next dump.

If it makes you feel better 2017 was way better =) incredible conditions all the way into mid May. I was skiing palisades at squaw on 4th of July
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