They’re hoping:
The strengthening El Niño in the Pacific Ocean has the potential to become one of the most powerful on record, as warming ocean waters surge toward the Americas, setting up a pattern that could bring once-in-a-generation storms this winter to drought-parched California.
The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center said Thursday that all computer models are predicting a strong El Niño to peak in the late fall or early winter. A host of observations have led scientists to conclude that “collectively, these atmospheric and oceanic features reflect a significant and strengthening El Niño.”
Certainly California needs it. On the other hand, apparently even a mega-El Nino won’t fix California’s drought problem, but every little bit helps, you know? And on the gripping hand… the researchers and people quoted in that article left themselves a lot of wiggle room. So I guess we’ll see if it rains.
And the eco types will bitch about all the water being evidence of global warming .
And the rains will bring mudslides. And drown delta smelts.
It wouldn’t matter if we had an ArkStorm (like the 1861 event that entirely flooded the central valley)…
http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v308/n1/images/scientificamerican0113-64-I3.jpg
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1312/
We have only had a 20% average deficit per year. Droughts are caused by nature. Water shortages are caused by crazed liberal beasties.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/forget-the-missing-rainfall-california-wheres-the-delta-smelt-1430085510
http://www.wsj.com/articles/californias-farm-water-scapegoat-1428706579