Category Archives: California drought

Second world war ‘Ghost Boat’ emerges in California lake, puzzling officials

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The drought hit Lake Shasta coughed up a Higgins vehicle and experts are struggling to explain its presence

Waning water levels across the west – symptoms of the region’s record drought – have revealed yet another artifact.

Dubbed the “Ghost Boat” by officials, the rusted carcass of a second world war Higgins boat, used to transport troops into battle and on to beaches overseas, began to emerge from the shallows in Lake Shasta last fall. Levels have sunk low enough this year to excavate the craft fully.

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US west coast braces for ‘atmospheric river’ as huge storm brews

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Northern California faces flash flood risk and threat of mudslides, especially in fire-charred areas

A huge Pacific storm is poised to unleash conditions known as an “atmospheric river”, with torrential rains and strong winds putting about 10 million people at risk of flash floods in parts of northern California this weekend.

The incoming tempest has raised fears of mudslides, especially in areas charred during record-setting wildfires this summer.

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Surging wildfire tears through northern California town and threatens others

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Caldor fire explodes in size as Pacific Gas & Electric begins shutting off power to 51,000 customers

Critically dangerous fire weather was forecast across northern California from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday evening, threatening to intensify several large blazes and increasing the risk of new ones, as a small rural town in the Sierra Nevada was ravaged by a fire that grew with devastating speed.

The Caldor fire, which erupted over the weekend, exploded in size on Tuesday and ran through the town of Grizzly Flats, destroying many buildings and forcing residents to leave. Two were injured. Officials estimated that the blaze had blown through 30,000 acres – up from 6,500 acres reported by the California department of forestry and fire protection (Cal Fire) earlier that day.

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In the shadow of Paradise, nearby residents make uneasy peace with fire

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Smoke, closed businesses and constant worry have changed life for those living with disaster on their doorstep

The Dixie fire was consuming vast swaths of land in the Sierra Nevada foothills, but in the nearby valley city of Chico, California, it was a typical summer day.

The temperature had already climbed past 102F and a dusting of smoke was pushing air quality to unhealthy levels. Yet at the One Mile city park on Wednesday, college students lay in the shade of oak trees, kids splashed around Sycamore Pool and cyclists raced by.

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‘There’s magic in misery’: ultramarathon runners cross Death Valley – in a drought

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A hundred athletes are picked each year for the 135-mile race. This time the climate was especially brutal

In the Badwater Basin at the bottom of California’s Death Valley, the air feels like a giant hair dryer and the pavement can melt the soles of your shoes.

Yet on Monday night, 100 of the world’s top endurance runners set off on what has become known as “the world’s toughest foot race”, carving 135 miles of terrain through one of the planet’s most extreme climates at the most intense time of year.

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California declares drought emergency across vast swath of state

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Majority of counties now under emergency declaration as California faces extensive dry spell and dwindling water supply

California has expanded a drought emergency declaration to a large swath of the nation’s most populated state amid “acute water supply shortages” in northern and central parts of California.

The declaration, expanded by Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday, now includes 41 of 58 counties, covering 30% of California’s nearly 40 million people. The US drought monitor shows most of the state and the American west is in extensive drought just a few years after California emerged from a punishing multiyear dry spell.

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California drought forces 15m salmon to take unusual route to Pacific: by road

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State officials will truck the young fish to the ocean, with the waterways they use to travel downstream historically low

California officials will truck more than 15 million young salmon raised at fish hatcheries in the state’s Central Valley agricultural region to the Pacific Ocean because projected river conditions show that the waterways the fish use to travel downstream will be historically low and warm due to increasing drought.

Officials announced the huge trucking operation on Wednesday, saying the effort is aimed at ensuring “the highest level of survival for the young salmon on their hazardous journey to the Pacific Ocean”.

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