Might One Wet Week Erase Drought?

  • Top, San Emigdio Canyon, Thursday morning, Jan. 24. Snowfall in Frazier Park was 29.5 inches last week at 5,000 feet. Winds of 68 mph were reported on the Grapevine by the National Weather Service. The Grapevine was closed for three days. Schools closed for four days. The Traffic Zone clothing store on Monterey Trail (inset) was sporting snow people and icicles Thursday, Jan. 24.

    Top, San Emigdio Canyon, Thursday morning, Jan. 24. Snowfall in Frazier Park was 29.5 inches last week at 5,000 feet. Winds of 68 mph were reported on the Grapevine by the National Weather Service. The Grapevine was closed for three days. Schools closed for four days. The Traffic Zone clothing store on Monterey Trail (inset) was sporting snow people and icicles Thursday, Jan. 24.

It was one very wet week. This is the data from Linda Curtis, our avid weather-spotter from Frazier Park. Her weather station is at about 5,035 feet, roughly the altitude of the rock houses on Mt. Pinos Way (400 feet higher than downtown). Of course, there is a wide range of microclimates in our area, and Pine Mountain received more snowfall.]

By Linda Curtis, Volunteer
NWS Weather Spotter

Our "weather year" is July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008. Total snowfall is one measurement. Ours so far is a total of 29.5 inches.

Rain is not separated from snow meltdown and all is labelled "precipitation." There is often a fine line between snow and rain. The water content is the important number.

Bottom Line: The total precipitation for this weather year to date is 11.45 inches—this means rain and snow meltdown combined.

On July 6, 2007 we reported 4.05 inches of rain in the calendar year. Annual averages over 60 years have been about 13 inches, with wide variability in individual years. In 2002, the total was 3.78 inches, the lowest reading in 50 years. —PH

This is part of the February 01, 2008 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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