2022 could be driest year in Sacramento history
Here's a clogged drain and flooded gutter waiting to happen, with rain expected to begin in the early-morning hours Thursday. Kathy Morrison
Be prepared to get wet – and it’s about time. Sacramento is long overdue for a good, deep soaking.
According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento can expect 1.15 inches on Thursday, the first day of December. After a frosty Friday (with early-morning lows expected to hit 32 degrees), another inch of rain is predicted for this weekend.
That will get December’s rain totals off to a solid start. Historically, December in Sacramento averages 3.25 inches of precipitation.
But that average rainfall – if we do indeed see it – would almost match Sacramento’s total for all of 2022 so far. The first 11 months totaled only 3.60 inches of rain. That’s 25% of normal for that period.
October and November, the start of Sacramento’s rainy season and the new “water year,” historically average 2.62 inches. This season, Sacramento received no rain in October and 1.16 inches in November. Most of that moisture (0.81 inches) fell on Nov. 8, our last truly rainy day before this week’s storm system.
Our current water year total is 44% of normal; that’s better than 2022’s percentage so far but still a long way from average. If December doesn’t produce a deluge, 2022 looks like it will go down as the driest year in recorded Sacramento history.
So, yes, even with this week’s rain, we’re still in a drought. Sacramento averages 17.65 inches annually – 14 inches more than we’ve received so far this year – and it will take a very wet winter to make up for 2022’s moisture deficit.
In the meantime, prepare for Thursday's rain and Friday's frost. Make sure leaves are raked away from storm drains and gutters are clear. Then, keep the frost cloths handy for sensitive plants.Comments
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Garden Checklist for week of May 18
Get outside early in the morning while temperatures are still cool – and get to work!
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. Transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.
* Plant dahlia tubers.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Are birds picking your fruit off trees before it’s ripe? Try hanging strips of aluminum foil on tree branches. The shiny, dangling strips help deter birds from making themselves at home.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.
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