El Niño keeps rain coming

Wet weather prevents bees from pollinating almond groves

By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press

El Niño's been paying California plenty of attention of late, and that affection shows no signs of waning anytime soon.

The tropical weather pattern has planted many a wet kiss on the Central Valley as persistent showers have helped the drought-ridden state keep up with normal precipitation levels.

Last week's rainfall totaled more than 2 inches in some places, and this week's storms were expected to add up to an inch more. Most cities, including Fresno, Sacramento and now even parched Redding, are near or above their seasonal averages.

The soft, warm showers could continue intermittently until May, said Kathy Hoxsie, the National Weather Service's warning coordination meteorologist in Sacramento, Calif.

"We don't see anything looming as far as a sudden change in the pattern," Hoxsie said. "We're always going to have moderate storms coming through with time in between them."

One group that's a little bashful over all this attention is almond growers, who've seen rainfall pester the blossoms of Nonpareils and other early varieties.

On dry days, bee activity has been profuse and the synchrony between Nonpareils and other varieties has been good, but weather conditions shut the bee activity down rather quickly, said Dave Baker, director of member relations for Blue Diamond Growers in Salida, Calif.

"Now we just sit back and wait because we have a lot of weather to go through," Baker said. "If the post-bloom weather stays cloudy, overcast and damp, it's not conducive to nut growth ... We won't know for another three weeks what's going to fall off and what's going to adhere to the trees."

However, the El Niño pattern shows promise for those yearning for an end to California's drought, which is entering its fourth year. The state's snowpack is at 106 percent of normal for this time of year and at 93 percent of April 1 averages, and California's total water storage is about 86 percent of average, according to state surveys.

While the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that most of the inland West is still abnormally dry, a three-month outlook from the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center suggests an equal or better chance of wetter-than-normal conditions this spring throughout the U.S. Southwest.

"It still could" mean the end of California's drought, said Maury Roos, chief hydrologist for the state Department of Water Resources.

"It's still possible," he said. "It's not likely to make it if we just have normal (precipitation) henceforth. But it's better than last year, particularly in Southern California and the southern half of the state ... I'm kind of hopeful."

Seasonal rainfall

Here are the National Weather Service's season-to-date rainfall totals in selected California cities. Totals are as of March 1:

Redding: 22.64 inches (normal 23.81 inches)

Sacramento: 14.36 inches (normal 13.49 inches)

Stockton: 9.88 inches (normal 10.10 inches)

Modesto: 10.51 inches (normal 9.32 inches)

Salinas: 10.08 inches (normal 9.38 inches)

Fresno: 9 inches (normal 7.73 inches)

Reservoir levels

Here are the percentages of capacity for California reservoirs as of midnight Monday, March 1, according to the Department of Water Resources California Data Exchange Center:

Trinity Lake: 48 percent

Shasta Lake: 75 percent

Lake Oroville: 39 percent

New Bullards Bar Reservoir: 64 percent

Folsom Lake: 44 percent

New Melones Reservoir: 51 percent

Lake McClure: 49 percent

Millerton Lake: 60 percent

Pine Flat Reservoir: 51 percent

Lake Isabella: 26 percent

San Luis Reservoir: 71 percent