It never rains in California?? by Matt Taylor
Parts of the US have seen a rash of severe storms over the past few days, bringing heavy rain, hail, strong winds and even snow to several states.
The stormy weather has been battering California for several days. In fact yesterday saw the 23rd consecutive day of rainfall, which has tied the previous record of consecutive rainy days. The average number of rainy days in March is normally just six.
However, the rain has come with some positive and negative side effects. In the Sierra foothills, several hours of torrential rain has caused a landslide. Mud and rock was sent sweeping down the hillside on Wednesday afternoon, and engulfed a highway below, causing two severe road accidents.
A combination of wind and rain has also caused chaos in the Santa Cruz area of California. More than 230mm (over 9 inches) of rain has fallen here since the beginning of March, causing minor landslides. The average total rainfall for March is usually around 70mm.
On Wednesday, the latest set of storms in this area brought down trees and left more than 2,000 people without electricity.
However, these storms have given Californian farmers hope for a profitable year. In the Sierra Hills, the rain has fallen as heavy snow and has left an above-average snow-pack. One of the recording stations in the hills has recorded a snow depth of 73.1 inches, which is 114% of the long-term average. Along the entire span of the Sierra, the average snow-pack is 125% of the norm.
The level of snow in these hills allows authorities to determine how much water will be available for the rest of the year. As a department of water resources spokesman states:
‘It’s looking really good. All of the reservoirs are full.’
Even more rainfall in forecast here over the next few days.
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