Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Oct. 4

Welcome to “Second Summer”! Very warm days (and temperate nights) will keep our tomatoes, peppers and squash producing just a little bit longer – and us watering longer, too.

Dry conditions continue as summer-like weather lingers well into fall. The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Sacramento through Oct. 7, with highs expected in the upper 90s and possibly inching into triple digits Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  

In Sacramento, the average high for this month is 78 degrees – 10 degrees lower than late September. But wild weather swings are possible: October’s record high here is 104.

How dry has it been? Although we’ve had a trace of sprinkles here and there, Sacramento has not had any measurable rain since May 29 (and that was only .12 inch).

October is officially the start of a new water year, and it could be a very wet one. Due to warming waters in the Pacific, experts are predicting an all-time El Niño weather pattern to hit the West Coast this winter.

El Niño winters can vary wildly; some produce extreme amounts of rain (and maybe snow), while others not so much.

California could use the rain. Recent surveys showed most of our state under drought conditions or close to it, says the weather service.

A look at our just-concluded water year reveals why; we haven’t had much precipitation since April.

Thanks to above average rain totals in November (3.18 inches) and April (3.46 inches), Sacramento totaled an almost normal 16.84 inches for the 2025-26 water year. Average for Sacramento is 18 inches.

As for this new water year, October is starting out dry. This month averages 0.85 in rain and sometimes gets considerably more; in October 2025, Sacramento got 1.88 inches.