A good rain year for us
O ur rain totals are certainly looking good this year. Our October, November, and December seemed as if the year might be a little dry, though by New Years we had 6.96 inches. When January continued at the same sedate rate, I feared we might be able to reach our average annual rainfall of 12.00 inches, but not by very much.
By New Years, there had been sufficient rain to get the grass growing on the hillsides. Most importantly, there were no lengthy dry spells. The rains we received were coming spaced apart so the grass would get watered then the moisture had time to soak in. Even if we barely made our annual average, if the rains continued to come spaced out as they had been, it would still be a decent grass year.
February began with a stormy period, bringing us 2.83 inches in the first five days of the month, more than any previous entire month. After a five-day pause between storms, we got another 0.76 inches, a six day pause, and now most of another full inch of rain. Our annual total has zoomed up to 11.67 inches, with our “average year” all but assured.
Even if our rains stopped right now, we would still have a good grass year. There is sufficient moisture in the ground to support the plants until they mature. However, I doubt the rainy season is over. I expect to see rain through most of March and maybe a little in April. If we can continue to get our rains a week or so apart, as we have much of this winter, the grass this season could be epic.
Of course, the downside of a good rain year is when the grass dries and cures. We then have a bumper crop of flash fuels, or fast-burning grass, covering our foothills. When fire attacks these golden-brown hillsides, it does so with speed and intensity. If we can keep the hills from burning, the grass will provide plentiful feed for cattle, horses, sheep, and of course the deer.
Not only are the foothills and valley receiving ample rain, our snow pack is accumulating very well. As long as it remains on the mountains, our runoff will be strong all summer. In fact, much of the entire State of California has received enough rain to take all, but some of the most southern areas, out of drought designation. Of course, a couple of dry seasons could change that very quickly.
And, with a good solid snowpack in the mountains, this puts the rivers and canyons in a position to flood. If we get a really warm storm sweeping in from the south, often called a Pineapple Express, we could be hip deep in water. Our winter storms will often bring both snow and rain into the foothills and mountains. If the snow level is at 3,000 to 4,000 feet, there will be no problems.
A Pineapple Express storm can easily have rain falling on the accumulated snow. If the snow melts, there can easily be more water coming down the canyon than the river can carry. When this happens, the river flows outside the banks and into the residential areas. Even with Success Dam protecting Porterville and the downstream areas, rain falling on any snow we have at the 10,000 foot level is going to bring a very large amount of water down the canyon. Springville is sure to have some flooding along the river, and River Island will definitely see water on the greens.
On the other hand, if the Jet Stream will behave itself and continue to bring us cold storms, and not a late-season warm rain, we might get through the summer with decent water in the river, the lake and all our wells.
Brent Gill lives in Springville and is the author of: “Fire on Black Mountain” which is available now on Amazon in paperback or Kindle edition. His “Daunt to Dillonwood” column appears regularly in The Porterville Recorder through the generosity of Weisenberger’s Hardware on West Olive in Porterville. If you enjoyed this column, follow his blog at http://brentgwriter.blogspot.com.