Once again, welcome!

Lagoon Valley Reservoir before the drought of 2008

November 18th, 2008

It is reaching the middle of the season of Autumn here in this part of northern California. We live in a "Mediterranean Climate Zone" which means hot dry summers and mild but wet winters.  During the summer, two cells of high air pressure usually park themselves, one offshore over the Pacific Ocean, the other over the "Four Corners" area where the state lines of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah come together.  When this phenomenon takes place, we'll usually not see rain here between mid-April until the middle of October.  This year, we have only collected about an inch and a half of rainfall since early February.

Needless to say, our lakes and streams are getting very low.  Folks are saying that some of the larger reservoirs such as Lakes Shasta and Comanche have not been this low in decades.

One of my favorite places for hiking and shooting wildlife (with a camera of course) is Lagoon Valley Regional Park in California's Solano County.  I was recently showing guests the lake and was shocked to see how low the water level had dropped.  You can compare levels between January and November of this year by clicking on the Lagoon Valley link on the navigation bar above.

The Weather Service is forecasting some rain a week from today.  Hopefully our two stubborn high pressure cells will head off allowing for some much needed rainfall.

After viewing our own drought situation, please humor me by looking at some images of Autumns past.  Because of the drought and high winds of last month, there wasn't much in the way of fall color in the Sierra Nevada Range.  Here's wishing for better conditions next year!

Again, thanks for visiting!

Mark Wood