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Wet winter in the works? Water year looks like a potential repeat

Sacramento's October-November rain total tracks very close to 2022

Rain, rain, rain; when is it coming our way? So far, our water year has been below average, but that doesn't mean we'll have a dry December.

Rain, rain, rain; when is it coming our way? So far, our water year has been below average, but that doesn't mean we'll have a dry December. Kathy Morrison

So far, our current water year – which runs Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2024 – has been feeling kind of dry. But don’t panic about lack of rainfall; we were at almost exactly the same spot last December – and we remember how that water year turned out.

For much of Sacramento (especially us folks south of the American River), our recent showers have been a drizzle at best. According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento received only a trace of rain from the storm systems that passed through Northern California since Thanksgiving. A half inch or more had been predicted.

Sacramento’s November rain totaled only 0.36 inches – 1.3 inches below average. Of that total, most of it (0.21 inches) fell on one day (Nov. 18). That followed a below par October (0.6 inches).

Our 2023-24 water year, which started Oct. 1, hasn’t quite measured up to an inch – 0.96. That’s more than 1.5 inches below our 30-year average for those two months.

Here’s the surprise: The first two months of our 2022-23 water year totaled almost exactly the same – 0.95 inches. After a bone-dry October, all of that total fell in November. That may be why we remember last November as “wet.”

Or it could be because we had a very wet winter. Last December kicked off an unusually rainy season with 2.33 inches falling in the first five days. December 2022 ended with 7.79 inches – 4.36 inches above average.

That 2022-23 water year wound up as one of the wettest on record. Downtown Sacramento received 26.22 inches, more than 7 inches – 36.5% – above average.

As for this December, the weather service forecasts more possible showers coming soon – or not. “Chance rain showers” – 20 to 35% – is predicted for Saturday, Wednesday and Thursday. But those odds also mean chances are 65 to 80% we’ll stay dry.

Just keep your umbrella handy – and fingers crossed.

For more on Sacramento weather: https://www.weather.gov/sto/.

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Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 2

During this stormy week, let the rain soak in while making plans for all the things you’re going to plant soon:

* During rainy weather, turn off the sprinklers. After a good soaking from winter storms, lawns can go at least a week without sprinklers, according to irrigation experts. For an average California home, that week off from watering can save 800 gallons.

* February serves as a wake-up call to gardeners. This month, you can transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.

* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.

* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).

* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.

* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.

* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.

* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.

* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.

* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.

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