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#197013 - 11/30/16 12:36 PM Good and Bad news
balzaccom Offline
member

Registered: 04/06/09
Posts: 2232
Loc: Napa, CA
What's the weather outlook for the Sierra? Depending on your point of view, things are looking up, or maybe starting to look really down.

First of all, the good news: we've had a ton of rain this fall already (1/3 of our normal rainfall before the end of November!) and that bodes well for the rest of this winter. Here's a story, in the LA Times, that spells it out:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-northern-sierra-nevada-precipitation-20161129-story.html

But if you take a longer view, the picture isn't so pretty. We may be seeing the beginning of a prolonged and deep drought for the next eighty years. Here's THAT story, from a climate researcher at UCLA:


http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/11/28/66446/sierra-snowpack-could-drop-50-by-the-end-of-the-ce/


If nothing else, the two stories should encourage you to get out and enjoy the Sierra now...and next summer...while it is still as beautiful as it is.
_________________________
Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/

Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963

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#197017 - 11/30/16 09:10 PM Re: Good and Bad news [Re: balzaccom]
Barefoot Friar Offline
member

Registered: 01/23/09
Posts: 176
Loc: Houston, Alabama
I doubt I can get over there soon enough, but I do dream of it. I want to hike the PCT some day.
_________________________
"Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls."

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#197238 - 12/20/16 08:16 PM Re: Good and Bad news [Re: balzaccom]
ndsol Offline
member

Registered: 04/16/02
Posts: 678
Loc: Houston, Texas
The next climate change model that gets it right will be the first one. And his model shows 7-10 degree increase, which is on the far end of the range.

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#197247 - 12/21/16 01:32 PM Re: Good and Bad news [Re: balzaccom]
Rick_D Offline
member

Registered: 01/06/02
Posts: 2939
Loc: NorCal
From a water supply perspective it's startling, as the snowpack represents more storage than any number of reservoirs could begin to and our distribution system to the central and southern state can't be sustained without dependable snow.

The fall northern CA storms have been gratifying, and very welcome indeed, but a giant swath of the state remains in "severe" or "extreme" drought, and those areas are in year six. No relief for the central and southern Sierra is in sight but luckily we have three months left of the precipitation season. Fingers and toes crossed for some help there.
_________________________
--Rick

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#197275 - 12/24/16 07:11 PM Re: Good and Bad news [Re: Rick_D]
hikerduane Offline
member

Registered: 02/23/03
Posts: 2124
Loc: Meadow Valley, CA
I heard something too from someone the last year or whatever about the beginning of what we would call a long drought, a short period in the bigger scheme.
Duane

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