Sacramento's surprise sprinkles don't measure up
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Will the rain spigot ever turn back on for Sacramento? We can hope for "real" rain next week, but the dry days keep adding up in the meantime. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)
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Sacramento got a little surprise Wednesday morning – a few drops of rain from a quickly passing storm system.
That unexpected splash of moisture sure looked like rain and felt like rain, but – alas – it still didn’t measure on the National Weather Service’s Downtown Sacramento monitoring equipment.
So, our epic dry spell continues.
“While the sprinkles this AM were certainly welcomed, Downtown Sac again missed out on measurable rain,” tweeted the NWS Sacramento office on Wednesday. “It's now been 207 days since Downtown Sac has observed ≥0.01" of rain – an all-time record.”
Downtown Sacramento’s last measurable rain – more than 0.01 inch – fell March 19. The current dry spell eclipsed a rainless record of 194 days set back in 1880.
This is at least the 10th time Downtown Sacramento has experienced a dry spell of more than 143 days, according to the weather service. Besides 1880 and 2021, other dry spells lasting more than four months occurred in 1903 (174 days), 2002 (169 days), 1960 (162 days), 1932 (155 days), 1926 (147 days), 1924 (145 days), 1999 (144 days) and 1996 (143 days).
Not all of Sacramento has been bone-dry during our current streak. Monitoring equipment at Executive Airport did pick up 0.05 inch from an overnight thunderstorm that passed through Sept. 9-10.
When will we see “real” measurable rain? We’re certainly overdue. Historically, October averages nearly an inch of precipitation.
“Some measurable rain may be in store late next week,” tweeted the NWS Sacramento office. “Stay tuned ...”
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Food in My Back Yard Series
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
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April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
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Garden Checklist for week of April 20
Before possible showers at the end of the week, take advantage of all this nice sunshine – and get to work!
* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Give shrubs and trees a dose of a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.
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