Jan 13
Rainy Winters and Dry Summers Create Unique Plants
January Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Hometown Pride”
California’s central coast has Mediterranean climate.
My friend, Bob, is a superb gardener, and he is aided by our accommodating climate. He grows vegetables on this gentle slope and allows poppies and calendulas to self-seed where others might have a lawn.
Looking out from the bench, his visitors view rolling ranch lands that extend to distant hills.
As I write this (January 9 and 10, 2023), our current storm system is bringing two days of heavy rains and fierce winds following several milder storms. And there are more coming.
California tends to have cycles of wet and dry years, called la nina and el nino weather patterns. This winter, we were expecting la nina, but after days of rains, it feels like a welcome el nino year.
Less than a month ago, NOAA posted this prediction for this winter: “Below-normal precipitation is favored for central to southern California,…”*
While this is technically a la nina year, California is on its way to having higher-than-average rainfall this season. As a result, we are grateful for rising reservoirs to help combat our extended drought.
* https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/30day/fxus05.html
