DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA 204 PM PDT TUE DEC 16 2008 ...MUCH NEEDED MOISTURE ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA... SYNOPSIS... ON JUNE 4TH...CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER PROCLAIMED A STATEWIDE DROUGHT. THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR IS INDICATING A SEVERE DROUGHT...CLASSIFICATION D2...IN THE DESERT PORTIONS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY...INCLUDING THE ANTELOPE VALLEY. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... AT THIS TIME...18 AGENCIES THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA HAVE INSTITUTED WATER CONSERVATION MEASURES. THE METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT ANNOUNCED A WATER SUPPLY ALERT AND IS URGING ITS CUSTOMERS TO STRIVE TO CONSERVE WATER AND CUT UNNECESSARY WATER USE. THE CITIES OF GROVER BEACH AND PASADENA AND THE LAS VIRGENES MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT HAVE IMPLEMENTED MANDATORY WATER RESTRICTIONS. THE CITY OF CHINO HILLS HAS IMPLEMENTED STAGE 2 WATER RESTRICTIONS. THE GOVERNOR HAS ALSO OFFICIALLY ASKED THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION TO PROVIDE WATER FOR STATE AREAS THAT ARE SUFFERING FROM DROUGHT. THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA HAS IMPLEMENTED A DROUGHT WATER BANK PROGRAM TO BUY WATER FROM WILLING SELLERS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TO TRANSPORT TO THOSE IN NEED IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. THIS PROGRAM IS INTENDED TO PREPARE FOR ANOTHER DRY YEAR IN 2009. THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES PLANS TO CUT BACK WATER DELIVERIES TO THE SECOND-LOWEST LEVEL EVER IN 2009. CLIMATE SUMMARY... THE PAST TWO YEARS HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED DRY YEARS FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA...WITH THE 2006-2007 SEASON BEING A DRY YEAR AND THE 2007-2008 SEASON BEING CONSIDERED ABNORMALLY DRY. THESE TWO DRY YEARS ARE COMPARABLE TO THE START OF DROUGHT OF THE LATE 1980S. THE WINTER SEASON STARTED OUT WITH CONDITIONS APPROACHING NORMAL THROUGH THE END OF FEBRUARY...BUT SINCE THIS TIME RAINFALL HAS BEEN BELOW NORMAL IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER OUTLOOK FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS IS INDICATING EQUAL CHANCES FOR BELOW NORMAL...NORMAL...AND ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION. THE TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK FOR THE REGION IS INDICATING EQUAL CHANCES OF BELOW NORMAL...NORMAL...AND ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES IN THE COASTAL SECTIONS OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, SANTA BARBARA, VENTURA, AND LOS ANGELES COUNTIES AND ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES IN THE EASTERN SECTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... UNSETTLED CONDITIONS ARE INDICATED IN THE NEXT 10 DAYS WITH ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION CHANCES AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES EXPECTED. NO SIGNIFICANT RIVER FLOODING IS EXPECTED IN THE NEAR TERM...BUT RAINFALL MAY BRING A CHANCE OF FLASH FLOODING TO RECENT BURN AREAS. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THIS WILL BE THE LAST ISSUANCE OF THIS PRODUCT AT THIS TIME. IF DROUGHT CONDITIONS PERSIST OR WORSEN AFTER THE WINTER SEASON, THE PRODUCT WILL BEGIN AGAIN IN THE SPRING OF 2009. RELATED WEBSITES...
CALIFORNIA DATA EXCHANGE CENTER:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/
CALIFORNIA NEVADA RIVER FORECAST CENTER:
http://www.cnrfc.noaa.gov/
DROUGHT MONITOR:
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
CALIFORNIA DROUGHT PAGE:
http://watersupplyconditions.water.ca.gov/
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER:
http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/index.php
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD:
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/lox/ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER DROUGHT MONITOR CALIFORNIA NEVADA RIVER FORECAST CENTER CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES CALIFORNIA STATE CLIMATOLOGIST US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS SOUTHERN DISTRICT QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS...PLEASE REFER ALL QUESTIONS TO
W-LOX.webmaster@noaa.gov $$ LABER http://weather.gov/losangeles/