By: Keira Flowers
Have you noticed the excessive amount of rain this time of year? Well, there has definitely been more rain than we had expected. According to sources, 90% of California is being held for flood watches as there has been numerous floods and more potential threats, mostly in Northern California.
Around 19 people's lives have been taken as Sacramento is said to be in the most amount of risk. In some parts of the state, we can see mudslides, roads being closed, sinkholes, and neighborhoods being drowned by the ongoing flooding. Areas like the Salinas River and Montecito were being ordered of evacuation on Jan. 17; about 100,000 homes and more have gone without electricity service.
This kind of weather after being in a drought for so long is said to be pointed at the location of the Jet Stream. This is basically the flow of strong amounts of wind power that often flows from North to South which can affect the U.S.’ precipitation and temperature. So, if the weather isn’t following the Jet Stream, it can lead to heat waves and flooding.
As California has been in a drought for so long, some can’t help but ask the question about our drought status at the moment. Unfortunately, the drought will continue for a little longer according to Mountain View Voice. They talk about how a drought this long has to have an excessive amount of rain to reverse the effects.
Although that was a letdown, freezing elevations have been dropping which is a good thing for California. “This snowpack is an important natural storage system because when it melts, it feeds the State Water Project, which provides water to 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland.” (Mountain View Voice)With climate change happening and ice melting fast, the snowy seasons said to be in Tahoe might be quite short.
Many sources say the storms will end Jan. 18, but personally, I hope it rains more.
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