After a few early storms last fall, California has seen little rain. A chart of the water content in the Sierra snow pack has been very like that of the exceptional drought of 1976-77.
Things are looking up, though.
A week of rain, over three inches in my yard, and several feet of snow in the Sierra.
It is far less than what we need but with more in the forecast we have hope.
California has some of the nations most productive farmland. On the back roads of California's central valley one sees mile after mile of orchards, vineyards, corn, rice, tomatoes and cotton. Farmers have been wondering just how much their water allotment will be cut, will they have enough water to grow a crop? This is not dry-land farming, with no summer rains California depends on the Sierra snow pack for water.
For those of us not in agriculture, our big worry is the fire danger brought on by drought.
So we listen avidly to the weather forecast and watch the sky, hoping for at least six more inches of precipitation.
That's the news from my part of our world, to see other views, go to That's Our World, Tuesday, hosted for us by Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia and Sandy.
23 comments:
Gorgeous flowers and colors and delightful captures! I do love the droplets of water! So glad you've finally gotten some rain! This has indeed been a weird weather year! Hope you have a wonderful day, Martha!
Sylvia
Very nice pics. Hopefully this is the end of the droughts.
Such delicate captures of the much needed raindrops.
Your rain dance is working! The pictures are great as is the information. I remember how in awe we were the first time we drove through all that central CA farmland (many years ago now). Water is essential.
The much needed water looks extra special on the flowers. I woke up to 8" of snow this morning. We need the moisture too.
Hi Martha, Your flowers look as though they enjoyed the drink. What a wonderful shade of tulip! We keep watching the skies and hoping, too. We didn't get much from the storm that crossed the Sierras.
I love your photos!
I wish I could send you some of our moisture. We are way over the normal.
It frightens me, this lack of rain.
We had a bad time of it last August.
We've lost our snow cover. I hope we don't have the same problem.
Greetings from Cottage Country!
Wow...wow...WOW!!! Some wonderful macros!
Martha, your climate is much like ours. We are always nervous about getting enough rain.
Beautiful flower shots!
What fabulously gorgeous shots!
Fabulous photos! We too face the problem with water shortage here.
Stunning shots, Martha. My thoughts have been about rain too, but the lack of it. It's late this year. Seeing your photos has made me long for rain. I hope it'll also come our way...
It has been a strange weather year. I certainly hope California farms have enough water!
Lovely! I adore capturing raindrops on flowers. Amazing how fresh everything seems!
What gorgeous shots of the rain. I do wish we would get so much more, I agree, I worry about fire.
I love the capture of the raindrops on the tulip!!
Beautiful raindrops on beautiful subjects!!!!!!
We got a surprise for Spring -- drop by and see a bit of it.
YOU are welcome to our rain -- I am sick of it. We have had more than our share.
beautiful photos of those precious raindrops on the blossoms. We're low on moisture, too. I hope we'll get some late snows in the mountains to make up for it.
Hi
What fresh plants after rain!
The effect of raindrops is marvelous.
Have a great weekend!
By the looks of the graphs, California is still way under average for rainfall, hopefully more rain is coming.
I learned a lot about irrigation last year, as are surrounded by pecan orchards, and cotton, chile, and alfalfa fields here in southern New Mexico. Last year's allotment was cut from several acre feet (the amount of water it takes to cover an acre with a foot of water) to a few acre inches, and this year looks to be even less. I can't imagine how hard it must be to be a farmer, and of course the drought affects us all.
Lovely photos, Martha. You are so lucky that at least some rain has fallen there.
Gorgeous flower captures, and the droplets add lovely light reflections to them.
Post a Comment