[env-trinity] Fresno Bee July 1 2009

Wed Jul 1 10:43:29 PDT 2009

See highlighted sections of article

Fresno wraps up rain year at 69% normal 

Published online on Tuesday, Jun. 30, 2009

By Paula Lloyd / The Fresno Bee 

Louisiana farmers struggle with dry conditions

Louisiana got some welcome rain this week, but farmers were still worrying
about vulnerable crops in drought conditions that even threatened to cancel
their Fourth of July fireworks displays. 

"So far, we're 4 1/2 inches (of rain) behind for the year, and for the
month, we're almost every bit of that - 3 1/2 inches," said Gary Chatelain,
a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. "We were doing pretty good
through May. June's been a real disappointment." 

Price Bundy of Ida, who grows cotton and corn, said corn ears are just
starting to fill out and may be stunted without more rain.

On Sunday, you needed an umbrella to ward off the scorching heat. Tuesday
morning, as Fresno awoke to overcast skies, it looked like you might need
one to fend off raindrops.

But the clouds were only for show.

A weather spotter for the National Weather Service reported a few sprinkles
in Clovis overnight, but no measurable rainfall.

"There was not even enough to splash the rain gauge at the airport," said
Gary Sanger, meteorologist at the weather service office in Hanford.

Fresno ended the official rain year at 87% of normal rainfall for the month
of June. Normal rainfall for June is 0.23 of an inch. 

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<http://media.fresnobee.com/smedia/2009/06/30/23/362-CLOUDY_SKIES.standalone
.prod_affiliate.8.jpg> Fresno ends rain year at 69% normal 

MARK CROSSE / THE FRESNO BEE

Wispy clouds dissipate slowly after a cool, cloudy morning Tuesday gives way
to mostly clear skies following a hot Monday that reached 106 degrees.
Tuesday's high temperature was 101.

Three thunderstorms rumbled over Fresno in June. The first one on June 3
slid past Fresno leaving a trace of rain. Storms on June 4 and June 5 made a
lot of racket but dropped only 0.20 of an inch of rain, measured at the
Fresno Yosemite International Airport. The rain season ended Tuesday with
Fresno standing at 69% of normal rainfall for the year, some 3.46 inches
below normal. Fresno had 7.77 inches of rain from July 1, 2008, to June 30,
2009. Normal annual rainfall is 11.23 inches.

Like Fresno's rainfall, the state's water supply also is below normal.
Statewide, water levels in reservoirs are about 16% below normal, said
Elissa Lynn, senior meteorologist with the State Department of Water
Resources.

Water storage in the state's reservoirs was at 72% of normal on March 1, but
had risen to about 83% of normal by Tuesday.

"We've seen some improvement over the spring," she said. "We were looking at
a dire situation."

Still, the improvement is not enough to end the state's drought conditions,
Lynn said. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a statewide drought
emergency.

The state's water system still is getting water from mountain runoff, Lynn
said. While the snowmelt has ended, she said, there still is high runoff
during the summer due to the lag time it takes for water to travel through
the mountains to watersheds. 

But for the third straight year, runoff from the mountains is below normal,
Lynn said. This year, runoff is projected to be 70% of average by Sept. 30,
when the state's water year ends.

"After three dry years, it would certainly be bad to have a fourth," Lynn
said.

If Fresno's recent cloud layer didn't deliver any rain, it did bring relief
from the "bone-searing" high temperatures that baked Fresno over the
weekend. Sunday's 108-degree high tied a record for the date. Tuesday's high
was 101.

Today's high should be 99, with 97 on Thursday, 101 on Friday and back to 97
degrees for the Fourth of July. Skies will be clear. 

The overnight lows are forecast in the high 60s for the rest of the week. 

Byron Leydecker, JcT

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 land

415 519 4810 cell

 <mailto:bwl3 at comcast.net> bwl3 at comcast.net

 <mailto:bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org> bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org
(secondary)

 <http://fotr.org/> http://www.fotr.org 

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