California has 'lively people,' but 'dead lawns'

This past weekend, I attended my grand-nephew Jordan Barnes' college graduation ceremony at Chico State in Chico, Calif. It was a great Saturday weatherwise and otherwise.

Jordan is going to pharmacy school in Boston later this summer and fall. He's a fine young man with a very supportive family, especially from single mom, Gina, who "leads by example." She has a brilliant medical career at Chico's largest hospital.

While I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to northern California, it was certainly sad to see literally thousands of dead lawns and many dying trees. There is nothing uglier than a palm tree that has "bitten the dust."

There were literally thousands of acres of formerly productive rich farmland in the Sacramento Valley left fallow and barren. It was almost like being in the Mojave Desert of southern California. There were vast areas of sagebrush that had replaced fields of rice and corn. The fruit, nut trees and vineyards were being kept alive by drip irrigation, but all the grasses were dead around the trees. I didn't see a single bee. There were very few mosquitoes. That was a good thing for me, a prime 'diabetic target' for these bloodthirsty insects.

The restaurants in the Chico area of northern California are almost as good as our restaurants locally in North Idaho. The food was tasty despite me having to beg for a glass of water to cool my mouth from the spicy Mexican dishes that were very hot to say the least.

When will Californians see some major drought relief? Well, if the current El Nino holds onto life in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, there may actually be moderate to heavy rains this upcoming fall and winter in the Golden State. But, most people aren't getting their hopes up just yet, because they've been frequently disappointed during the past several years of parching drought, the worst such conditions in some areas "in probably a thousand years," according to some of my climatological peers.

In answering a question from a Press subscriber, YES, Phil, I do see the big western drought eventually pushing eastward into the 'heart' of the Midwest corn and soybean belt. It could happen later this summer, but is far more likely to occur on a four-year cycle of drought in the nation's midsection that has returned every election year since 1968. The recent droughts of 2008 and 2012 in the Midwest were the worst since the infamous 'Dust Bowl' days of the 1930s. Feeder cattle prices recently soared to nearly $2.50 a pound after corn prices topped $8 a bushel and rangeland grasses were scarce.

Food prices will likely soon skyrocket nationally due to increasing WIDE WEATHER EXTREMES, including parching drought, that will adversely affect both agriculture and livestock. I still believe that GLOBAL FAMINE is at our doorstep. Check out my book for more details.

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

The official start of summer is nearly a full month down the meteorological roadway, but we're already seeing afternoon highs in the summerlike 80s, thanks mainly to the warm El Nino in the Pacific Ocean waters that's been stronger than predicted.

A trio of 83 degree readings were observed on Thursday in Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Fernan Lake. Rathdrum, Athol and Spokane were close behind at 82 degrees. Kellogg and Spirit Lake came in with 81 degrees. It was 80 degrees in Hayden.

Not only has it been unusually warm for May across the Inland Empire, it's likewise been extremely dry. As of this Friday morning writing, May 22, we had only gauged .57 inches of precipitation this entire month at my station on Player Drive. Spokane had only picked up .36 inches of moisture this bone-dry month of May.

As is quite typical of an El Nino event, much of the shower activity has gone to the south of us into Oregon, northern California and Nevada. Some places in Texas and Oklahoma, formerly plagued by parching drought, will see their wettest month of May on record. Lakes and streams that were dried up just a couple of months ago are now overflowing their banks, one wide weather extreme to the other in short order. Large-sized hail has wiped out many wheat fields this spring in the southern Great Plains, adding to the misery.

As for us, I do see some scattered, much-needed showers and thunderstorms developing at times during the next few weeks just ahead of 90-degree-plus temperatures and very dry conditions under a strong ridge of high pressure this summer of 2015. Happy Memorial Day!

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com