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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Food in My Back Yard Series
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Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
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Garden Checklist for week of May 11
Make the most of the lower temperatures early in the week. We’ll be back in the 80s by Thursday.
* 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. (You also can 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.
* Add mulch to the garden to maintain moisture. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch-to-1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.
* Remember to weed! Pull those nasties before they set seed.
* Water early in the day and keep seedlings evenly moist.
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