One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.
California drought: High pressure ridge to blame, not likely to change soon
Joe Gonzales walks on his ranch in Gilroy, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008. California's worst drought in decades is forcing the state's cattle ranchers to downsize their herds because two years of poor rainfall have ravaged millions of acres of rangeland used to feed their cows and calves.
(
Jeff Chiu/AP
)
Listen
1:33
California drought: High pressure ridge to blame, not likely to change soon
Weather watchers say there's a slight chance of rain Thursday in Southern California.
If it comes, it'll be the brief exception to an unusually dry winter.
Meteorologists blame a massive ridge of high pressure air that parked over the west this fall and hasn't budged since.
The pattern has been so persistent some are calling it the "ridiculously resilient ridge."
Persistent dryness
Mark Jackson with the National Weather Service says, the high pressure zone essentially acts like a wall that blocks wetter weather from entering the region.
It will occasionally wobble at its edges, allowing rainstorms from the ocean to reach land, but these are usually weaker storms with minimal rain.
Sponsored message
Jackson adds that in the past some high pressure zones have lasted long periods of time.
"We're talking multiple years," he said.
California's current dry spell dates back three winters, with 2013 coming in as LA's driest year on record. Water reserves are so low that Governor Jerry Brown issued a drought emergency earlier this month.
Breaking the pattern
Alexander Gershunov with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography says the high pressure ridge is part of a much larger weather pattern currently in play over the Northern Hemisphere that includes the polar temperatures chilling parts of the Midwest and East Coast.
For things to change, Gershunov pointed out, this bigger system has to "break up and change to a different pattern."
That doesn't seem likely to happen any time soon though.
Sponsored message
Gershunov speculates - totally hypothetically - if scientists could inject a Great Lakes-sized amount of cold water into the ocean off the coast of Washington and Oregon, it would possibly alter patterns enough to break up the high pressure ridge.
"I don't know who has a syringe big enough to do that," he said, adding it would be a very bad idea to attempt any such weather manipulation.
"We don't really understand what the unintentional consequences would be."
Perhaps that's why such schemes are usually associated with villains in James Bond movies.
Marty Ralph, also with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography says Thursday's chance of rain could provide some temporary relief though, possibly even doubling the total amount of rain fall so far this season.
"Which isn't saying much because it's been so paltry," he said.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
