End Pavement

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.”

My friend and fellow hiker Alex writes the Ravens in Hollywood blog. He was quite concerned about the wildlife that were threatened in yesterday’s fire, not that far from his house.

He sent me an awesome picture he managed to capture recently (before the fire) that has become his new masthead banner.

(Click to see in context and full size.)

Flickr has a ton of shots of the fire from various folks. Unfortunately, with the apparently even-worsening drought situation, we’ll be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing.

Let’s hope all the wildlife in Hollywood (not to mention the numerous hairless primates) are okay.

Thanks to the Press-Enterprise for pointing out a new exhibit going on now at the San Bernardino County Museum.

[The] new exhibit [...] focuses on the unique geography of inland Southern California that makes the area especially prone to earthquakes, landslides, fires and floods.

Titled “Living on the Edge,” the show explores the scientific reasons for such natural disasters and their relationship to the human population. It details the ways local communities have coped in the past and prepared for the future, and offers pictorial reminders and preparedness hints.

The museum’s website has a full press kit with facts and figures, plus some of the images being displayed.

“Living on the Edge: Natural Disasters in San Bernardino County” runs March 17th to June 24th. I’ll definitely make plans to go see that.

I also want to see how the construction is coming on their new Hall of Geological Wonders, which had the groundbreaking back in February. The illustrations and blueprints look really cool.

It was three months ago, on December 21st, that I wrote a post called “Winter Solstice”, the first post on the site, save one. It’s funny looking back, since the weather was quite similar to today’s, though we’ve had at least one heat wave since then.

The last paragraph talked about the importance of Winter to the other seasons:

Spring would not mean anything if there were no winter. No matter what your particular religious beliefs (or lack thereof), no matter what festivals or feasts or traditions you celebrate this time of year, don’t you think it’s also important to recognize this amazing astronomical event? To celebrate these short hours of light, because they are so precious?

As I write this, the Vernal Equinox is arriving officially, marking the boundary between Winter and Spring. That is exciting to me for a number of reasons, but perhaps most of all because what I was looking forward to in December is again what I’m yearning for:

While I’m looking forward longingly to a season or so from now — to warmer hiking, to baseball games, to the bike training — it’s a good thing to appreciate what’s here already.

I haven’t been on a bike since the accident, nor on a trail. My physical therapy is going well, though, with weight lifting that is slowly increasing. Last week I felt for the first time real progress — feeling stronger rather than just less weak, an important distinction. So those things I was (and am again) looking forward to are closer than ever.

I can’t wait.

Now this I could have told you without looking at the numbers, but Southern California is in the middle of its driest year on record.

The LA Times has a story on it in today’s paper. Downtown Los Angeles, as an example, has received 2.4 inches of rain since July 1st 2006.

“We’ve never had a drier year on record so far,” said Eric Boldt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “If nothing significant happens in March, then we’ve pretty much run out of time.”

Those in the outdoors will see the effects throughout the year, from a prolonged fire danger season, to upset insect migrations, to threatened crops and other plant life.

Even native California plants are suffering under the dry conditions. Gardeners at South Coast Botanic Garden on the Palos Verdes Peninsula have seen more dry and brown leaves in their drought-resistant Mediterranean and California plants.

Those plants usually rely exclusively on California’s winter rains, said Tanya Finney, who leads the gardening staff on the 87-acre property.

“We don’t normally have to supplement the water in the winter,” she said. “But this year it’s been so dry that we’ve started hand-watering things we usually don’t, like our rosemary and salvia.”

So keep those canteens handy. And if you have your pets along for the hikes, bring extra for them.

I’m glad our proposed hike isn’t until the weekend. :) Should be Mostly Sunny, in the 60s and 70s.

Special Weather Statement - San Bernardino, Riverside Cou (California): “COLD FRONT TO IMPACT SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SHOWERS…

A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA ON THURSDAY NIGHT ACCOMPANIED BY GUSTY WINDS AND SHOWERS. PRECIPITATION IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE PROLONGED OR HEAVY…BUT THE WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS MAY BE STRONG WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE THURSDAY NIGHT….

Via California - (San Bernardino County Valley, The Inland Empire/CAZ048) - Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for California Issued by the National Weather Service.