bucketLast month, I told you about the effects of our 13 month drought, the longest driest year California has had in the last 500 years. Four weeks later, things are a little better, but not much. We had a huge storm system that brought us as much as 10 inches of rain in some parts of Northern California. Better yet, the storm finally punched a hole in that huge area of high pressure system that has parked itself off the coast of California for the past year. And please note, when I say “huge” in this instance, I really mean huge. This ridge of high pressure is four miles high and as long as the Sierras. So, it’s been like a brick wall blocking us from the Pacific storms that usually gives us all our year’s water in a few months. Granted some storms were able to sweep down from Alaska, but that’s not the same thing. Those storms are cold and usually fairly dry. The net result was little moisture.

Contrast that to our usual winter weather systems. It’s an effect called The Pineapple Express. These are warm storms, originating in Hawaii and further East — usually the by-product of typhoons — that carry massive amounts of water. It wasn’t unusual to have several inches of rain in one day and a wave of storm systems that would last for weeks or even months. If you’ve never lived in a semi-arid environment, you have no idea how wonderful rain is. If you’ve never lived in Coastal California, you can’t imagine how beautiful the Pineapple Express is. A day or two before the storm hit, you’d feel it as a warm moist wall of air. In usually chilly San Francisco, all of a sudden, it would feel as if you were in the Belize. The fog would move out, the evening would be warm and the air would be torpid. Then it would hit — usually with a solid wall of water. Not drizzle, not just a downpour, but a torrential deluge that was positively monsoon magnificent.

The best part is what would happen after the storms. Remember, we typically get no big storms or even a drizzle much later than April. Often all our water would come November to February, with the weather turning hot and sunny (at least outside the City of San Francisco) from March through late November. The hills would be burned golden and crisp and fire danger would escalate. Then the storms would hit and, within a day, everything would turn green. It would be a green more emerald than anything you’ll see outside of Ireland. In places like Sonoma, in addition to the sudden greening of the hills, wildflowers popped up, trickling streams became raging torrents, waterfalls suddenly appeared in the hills, aquifers filled and farmers rejoiced. The whole landscape perked up, drank up and prepared itself for the long dry season.

Here's our pasture after our recent rainstorms. Gosh and Begorrah, that's some Irish green.

Here’s our pasture after our recent rainstorms. Gosh and Begorra, that’s some Irish green.

In a normal winter, a few storms would turn all the Sonoma hills the same emerald green. Not this year, but you can see patches of green.

In a normal winter, a few storms would turn all the Sonoma hills the same emerald-green. Not this year, but you can see patches of green.

Okay, so we’ve had one huge storm system two weeks ago, which is late in our usual rainy season. The good news is that it punched right through that high pressure ridge. The bad news: State officials are warning us that we are still in a severe drought, reservoirs are way down and our Sierra snow pack, which supplies most of our water, is still a fraction of normal. Underscoring that, an Internet friend who is in the water business wrote in to say that water, at least in price, is turning into the new oil:

I’ve been following the price of water. Recently the starting bid for a 10,000 acre-foot block of water started at $600/AF. SHEZAM! That’s crazy. The winning bid was $1,350/AF. Good grief. This is going to get beyond obscene before spring begins.

We’ve got another big storm system cued up to hit us Wednesday and last through the weekend. It won’t be enough to pull us out of this drought. But every drop helps. It certainly won’t help the many farmers who are fallowing fields and ranchers who are selling off livestock because they can’t afford to feed and water them. It’s looking grim for all those wonderful agricultural products that we love and depend on. And certainly for green lawns and golf courses that really have no business in a semi-arid environment. The future is scary and uncertain.

It was so dry before our storm that the Mountain Lion came out during the day and was drinking in Lake Charles (terrier shown as a placeholder). Yikes!

It was so dry before our storm that the Mountain Lion came out during the day — a rare sighting of a nocturnal hunter — and was drinking in man-made Lake Charles (terrier shown as a placeholder). Yikes!

Now the seasonal creek, which was not even a trickle is full up and forming waterfalls.

Now the seasonal creek, which was bone dry two weeks ago is full up and forming waterfalls. So hopefully Miss Kitty the Mountain Lion can do her rehydrating down here instead of up at our pond.

But you know what I have faith in? All those California native plants that were born and raised to survive lack of water. I don’t know how many years they can take of stress as severe as this last year. But in the short-term — as in this month — they are back with a vengeance. New grass sprouted within a day of the storm and the wildflowers are opening everywhere. Well, not exactly everywhere. Louis, our Ranch Manager, spread wildflower seeds everywhere and he was waiting for an explosion of yellow from large plantings of California poppies.

They sprouted, but the deer -- or as Louis calls them "the asshole deer"-- came in and chewed them down to the nubs.

They sprouted, but the deer — or as Louis calls them “the asshole deer”– came in and chewed them down to the nubs. Now Louis is hoping Miss Kitty comes up for some venison.

Well, Circle of Life, my friends. Now we’ve got a second big storm system due to hit us this Wednesday through the weekend. It certainly won’t get us out of a drought situation. But I think our California natives will make good use of it.

Not that this lets anyone off the hook. Conserve water and pray for more rain!