Sacramento posts impressive rain totals after a series of atmospheric rivers
This rain gauge is full, at 5 inches, after last week's storms. Debbie Arrington
If rain is what we wished for, we sure got it.
Since Christmas, a series of nine atmospheric rivers have soaked Northern California – with a 10th potentially on the way. And the rain totals have been impressive.
So far in January, Downtown Sacramento has recorded 7.14 inches; 2.31 inches fell since Friday. That follows 9.52 inches in December including a record 2.37 inches on New Year’s Eve.
Our winter rain total is more than double historic averages. In three months (including 1.16 inches in a subpar November), Sacramento received as much rain as it averages in an entire year: 17.82 inches. Normal for that period: 8.27 inches.
And more is on the way: The National Weather Service expects one more wave of storms to pass through on Wednesday. Whether it will rate as another atmospheric river is uncertain. The current NWS estimate is about one-quarter inch for Sacramento, but the storm system is still building up steam.
After “definite rain showers” on Wednesday, it looks like we’ll finally dry out. The weather service predicts six to nine days of dry weather starting Thursday.
However, that dry spell will be accompanied by cold, with overnight lows dipping close to freezing. Those cold nights are expected to bring patchy frost and morning ground fog. Afternoons will warm up only to the low 50s, but they will be sunny.
That means it’s time to tackle some winter garden chores:
* Survey your trees. Now is the time to take care of damage or stabilize trees that may have gotten wobbly in wet soil.
* Apply horticultural oil to fruit trees to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective – and we may finally have that.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based oil to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new healthy growth in early spring.
* Be careful of saturated soil; it compacts easily. Don’t dig in muddy ground.
* Hold off on planting bare-root roses, trees and other plants until soil has a chance to dry out a little.
* Pull back mulch from around trees and shrubs so trunks have a chance to dry out, too. This will help curb crown rot.
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 19
Dress warmly in layers – and get to work:
* Apply horticultural oil to fruit trees to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based oil to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback if pruned now. Save those until summer.)
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladioli for bloom from late spring into summer.
* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.
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