It Hasn’t Been A Textbook El Niño Winter So Far — But That Could Change
The forecast for rain for 2015-2016 followed El Niño convention. But the pattern broke the rules.
Author Archives: Les Rowntree
Lester Rowntree is an emeritus professor of environmental studies at San Jose State University and a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley. He is writing a book for UC Press on the natural history and landscape changes of the Central Coast.
El Niño Update: It’s Going to Rain (Almost Certainly, Probably)
The forecaster mood and message is upbeat these days, with less hedging and more agreement that, yes, this El Niño winter could be a wet one.
El Niño’s Here. What Does That Actually Mean?
Two strong historical El Nino wet winters nurture hope for relief from our current drought. But there are several good reasons to hedge about the coming winter.
What Is An Atmospheric River, and How Does One Affect California’s Rainfall?
Current climate change research suggests California’s weather could become even more variable than in the past, a “new normal” of drier dry periods punctuated by wetter winter storms.
New Climate Model Zooms in on North Bay
Global climate models are critical to understanding climate change, but they don't tell us anything about changing temperatures and other surface level changes in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is what we need to know to plan for our future. A new model for the North Bay creates a closeup view critical for watershed managers. And soon the model will expand to cover all of California, 18 acres at a time.
