End Pavement

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/lox/Assets/pns_06_01_07.pdf

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA
925 AM PDT FRI JUN 1 2007

[...]

IF DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES RECEIVES 1.20 INCHES OF RAIN OR LESS DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE…THE LAST MONTH OF THE 2006-2007 RAIN SEASON…THIS WILL BECOME THE DRIEST SEASON EVER. CURRENTLY THAT TITLE BELONGS TO THE WINTER OF 2001-2002…WHEN 4.42 INCHES OF RAIN WAS RECORDED. NORMAL SEASONAL RAINFALL AT DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES IS 15.14 INCHES.

AN ANALYSIS OF RAINFALL AT LOS ANGELES IN JUNE GIVES AN IDEA OF JUST HOW LIKELY IT IS THAT THIS SEASON WILL BECOME THE DRIEST EVER. ON AVERAGE…JUST 0.06 INCHES OF RAIN FALLS IN LOS ANGELES IN THE MONTH OF JUNE. SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN JULY 1877…129 JUNES HAVE COME AND GONE. RAINFALL TOTALED 1.20 INCHES OR LESS IN EVERY SINGLE JUNE EXCEPT FOR ONE…JUNE 1884…WHEN 1.34 INCHES OF RAIN FELL.

(thanks to Alex for the forward)

An article in the LA Times this past week ups the ante in the story on Southern California’s dry spell (covered previously here on End Pavement): “L.A. urges conserving water in dry spell”

Los Angeles officials urged residents Wednesday to reduce water consumption by 10% as weather forecasters predicted the region’s historic dry spell will combine with a summer of record-setting temperatures.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s call for conservation — the first water-reduction goal the city has issued in more than a decade — comes as water agencies across Southern California are trying to deal with the driest season on record.

In my post back in March, the Times reported that Downtown had received 2.4 inches of rain since July 1, 2006. Three months later, that total is still less than 4 inches.

Despite things not being as bad as the droughts during the late Eighties when mandatory conservation and other measures were passed,

…this summer is expected to be as hot, if not hotter, than last summer, during which several record-breaking heat waves were blamed for the deaths of more than 100 people across the state.

Mayor Villaraigosa is pushing for voluntary conservation for now.

“Los Angeles needs to change course and conserve water to steer clear of this perfect storm,” Villaraigosa said. “The combination of record-low rainfall, the second-lowest snowpack ever recorded and a potentially very hot summer is a perfect storm that could put Los Angeles into a drought.”

There is nothing new under the sun. ;) Meet a non-poseur fixie messenger.

Said he was fourteen years old. Works until after one a.m. every night. He is precocious and not a little “tough.” Has been here at this office for only three months, but he already knows the Red Light District thoroughly and goes there constantly. He told me he often sleeps down at the Bay Line boat docks all night. Several times I saw his mother hanging around the office, but she seemed more concerned about getting his pay envelope than anything else.

(Via Shorpy, the 100-Year-Old Photo Blog)