Holiday storms put averages back on track
Time to empty the rain gauge, before another storm arrives. The Sacramento area has received nearly 6 inches of rain -- and a little more than that in the northern part of the county -- since the Water Year started Oct. 1. Kathy Morrison
Happy New Year! We start this new month sunny, but more rain is coming soon.
And that’s a good thing.
Holiday storms boosted December’s rain total to 4.69 inches in Sacramento – 37% above average for the month.
We needed it. After a relatively dry autumn, our Water Year – which measures the rain we receive from Oct. 1 to Sept 30 – was tracking below normal.
Thanks to that Christmas week rain, our total since Oct. 1 is now 5.65 inches in Downtown Sacramento. Average for that same three months: 5.94 inches.
According to the National Weather Service, more moisture is coming very soon. A new storm system is expected to arrive Tuesday night and drop a half inch to one inch of rain by Wednesday afternoon. Those showers will be followed by more rain on Friday night and Saturday.
That could make for damp conditions for Sacramento’s annual McKinley Park Rose Garden prune-a-thon on Saturday, Jan. 6. Volunteers and city crews are expected to be out pruning Saturday morning, rain or shine.
Such in-and-out storm systems are normal for winter in Sacramento. January is typically among Sacramento’s rainiest months, averaging 3.64 inches.
This rain may seem like a lot, but it’s just a puddle compared to what we experienced this time last year. Sacramento recorded 2.12 inches of rain on New Year’s Eve 2022, topping off 7.79 inches for December 2022.
By comparison, 2024’s rain picture may be starting out just right – not too much, not too little, but enough to give trees a nice, deep soak.
For more updates on Sacramento weather: https://www.weather.gov/sto/.
Comments
0 comments have been posted.Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
Thanks to Our Sponsor!
Local News
Sites We Like
Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
Powered by California Local
