Central Valley farmers brace for a dry dry winter
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predict a dry winter for parts of California, including the San Joaquin Valley.
The good news? The National Weather Service does not include the Sierra in its predictions.
A prediction 90 days in the future shows drought conditions in the central valley but rain and snow in the Sierra; according to experts, weather whiplash is common for California.
"You just have to be prepared for extreme events. They can happen at any time," says Craig Shoemaker, a meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which released its winter outlook for California.
"There's a slight signal for dryer than normal conditions. Right now, we are not predicting a dry winter for the Sierra," says Shoemaker.
An image posted by the agency predicts precipitation levels will be below normal in the central valley area and through southern California, but why?
"La Niña is a cooling of the equatorial water temperatures," says Shoemaker.
Unlike El Nino, which brings wet weather to parts of the state, La Niña is a dryer system that comes from Western Canada down through Northern California, and it's headed for farmers.
"No rain will have a huge impact on California's farming," says Jasdeep Bains, the Director of Farm Management for Diamond B company, primarily farming peaches and almonds. Bains is concerned by the agency's stark prediction because no rain means less profit for growers.
"As things do get worse, we will start to see economic impacts as far as employees. You have to start assessing laying people off, and that's going to be a larger issue because then you'll be talking about the unemployment rate," says Bains, who says some farmers are leaving the state.
"People have walked away from those orchards already, and next year it's only going to get worse without the rainfall. We like to trust mother nature in that every year will even out the last but moving forward; I don't think we can do that anymore with the way we're not getting rain."
Despite dry weather in the central and southern parts of California, the winter outlook shows an average chance for precipitation in the Sierra. After a heavy fire season, the snowpack would be a welcomed site for neighbors.