Rainy days expected to give way to drier climate in Lodi area
Although the Stockton airport reported more than three inches of rain this January, compared to the 2.75-inch average for the month in previous years, the rain is expected to stop for the rest of the month, according to Brian Edwards, a meteorologist for the private weather forecasting service AccuWeather.
“I don’t really see much chance for precipitation until at least the first weekend of February, and probably beyond that,” Edwards said.
Edwards also predicted temperatures to reach the mid- to upper-60s by next week, which he said would be 10 to 15 degrees higher than the average of 55 degrees for January. This could have a minor impact on weather conditions, he added.
“With high (atmospheric) pressures, which we will see next week, there may be a dense fog in the late nights and early mornings these next couple of days. This is something to keep in mind for morning commutes. Aside from that, it looks like the fog will give way to sunshine in the afternoons in the early part of next week,” Edwards said.
The recent rainfall has not caused any damage to levees in the area, according to Jenny Rich, an emergency planner with the San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services.
Last year’s flooding caused reservoirs to overflow, requiring water to be released into the already-full Mokelumne River and placing stress on levees, but Rich explained that this has not been a problem this year.
“Generally speaking, we’re in a much better position as far as river levels are concerned compared to this same time last year,” Rich said.
Employees from the Department of Water Resources and various reclamation districts were able to begin repairing the levees during the last rainy season without requesting supplies such as sandbags or plastic tarps from OES, Edwards said, and no such requests have been made this year.
“As far as we know right now, there have been no calls for assistance, so the levees must be holding up pretty well,” Rich said.
This year’s rainfall has also not impacted the salmon population, according to Jose Setka, manager of fisheries and wildlife for E bay Municipal Utilities District.
“The salmon run it pretty much over, it was done by the end of December. We had 19,953 salmon this year, which is a record going back to 1940,” Setka said.