Bob Shannon Editor Pacific NW News

Lake Oroville, California — 2011 on the left, and September, 2014 on the right (Credit Paul Hames and Kelly Grow, California Dept. of Water Resources) 

Put it in the books–Tuesday ends the 2014 record-keeping period for water watchers, and it’s the driest year since 1977, and the worst possible conditions in the history of California.

Wildfires, lakes turned into barren wastelands, countless acres of decimated farmland, at least a dozen communities running out of water within days, and massive fish kills are just the beginning, as the short-term climate shows no signs of a return of moisture.
“The immediate certainty is that day-to-day conservation – wise, sparing use of water – is essential as we face the possibility of a fourth dry winter,” said Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin.

Causes of California drought linked to climate change, Stanford scientists say

The extreme atmospheric conditions associated with California's crippling drought are far more likely to occur under today's global warming conditions than in the climate that existed before humans emitted large amounts of greenhouse gases.

The atmospheric conditions associated with the unprecedented drought currently afflicting California are "very likely" linked to human-caused climate change, Stanford scientists write in a new research paper.
In a new study, a team led by Stanford climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh used a novel combination of computer simulations and statistical techniques to show that a persistent region of high atmospheric pressure hovering over the Pacific Ocean that diverted storms away from California was much more likely to form in the presence of modern greenhouse gas concentrations.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/september/drought-climate-change-092914.html

 BobShannon.org

QUIET WITH A CHANCE OF FLARES: So far this week, solar activity has been low. However, there are five sunspots on the solar disk poised to break the quiet. All of them have 'beta-gamma' magnetic fields that harbor energy for moderately strong eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 65% chance of M-class solar flares and a 15% chance of X-flares.

In this aerial photo taken on Sept. 27, 2014, and provided by NOAA, some 35,000 walrus gather on shore near Point Lay, Alaska. Pacific walrus looking for places to rest in the absence of sea ice are coming to shore in record numbers on Alaska’s northwest coast. 

 Rick Price

PALM DESERT, Calif. -
Palm Desert is the first urban area in the Coachella Valley this year where mosquitoes have tested positive for West Nile virus. Health officials said the virus was detected in a sample of ten mosquitoes collected September 26 from a trap located near the intersection of San Luis Rey Avenue and Ironwood Street.
With the virus so close to home, it serves as an important reminder to protect yourself from mosquito bites.
"The summer may be over, but mosquito and West Nile virus season is in full swing here in the Coachella Valley," says Jill Oviatt, Public Information Manager at the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District (CVMVCD). "As temperatures cool, we expect to see more people outside and with the virus moving west into the urban areas, people across the entire Valley need to take precautions."
No human cases have been detected in the Coachella Valley so far this year, but officials said seven additional mosquito samples tested positive this week in the Mecca, North Shore and West Shore areas in the east valley.
This brings the total number of West Nile-virus positive mosquito samples to 59 in 2014. So far this year, 23 sentinel chickens have tested positive for the virus.
CVMVCD staff is going to intensify mosquito and larval surveillance in Palm Desert and Indian Wells, setting additional traps and searching out sites where mosquitoes lay their eggs.