A very telling series of image that reveal in no uncertain terms the seriousness of the past four years of drought. Images all taken from the same time of year and vantage point.
I wish it does pass. To be sure, one might want to start practicing the art of dry shaving though... Too soon??
It's been very bad there according to all of my CA friends. In the meantime, over here in New England it's turning into Antartica in the winter.
The two conditions are related, apparently due to a high pressure ridge off the California coast. We had a bad drought in the 1970s, and that eventually passed. Hopefully, this one will, too. I still remember when it got so bad they had water rationing.
That looks like our mountains this year. We've caught all the warm weather in OR and never really had a winter, even in the Cascades. I think our ski season which usually goes Nov-April lasted about 2 desperate weeks. It will be interesting to see if we land in a drought in Portland this summer. All of our water comes from mountain run off, of which there is very little this year.
I am aware, and believe changes in ocean currents are one of the factors setting this all in motion. If that is the case, the long term averages for you are trending dry. I also hope it passes as it did in the 70's, but the data is cause for pessimism.
I lived in Oregon a few years ago, when that first scorching hot summer took everyone by surprise. People were checking out of hotels en masse because they had no AC. That winter and spring were similar to what is happening again this year. Probably have another super hot summer on the way for Portland...
Excellent job Kevin. Your post tells it like it is, in more ways than one. Yosmite is a beautiful place!!! Did you have any fun?
I've not been there yet this year, but have plans for early summer. Yosemite is breathtakingly beautiful. The snowcapped peaks of early Spring are greatly missed, both from a practical viewpoint (no water) as well as reflection of the overall beauty of Creation!