The May 1, 2013 photo shows how dry the hills are. The browning is at least four
weeks early, and is the result of low rainfall during January, February, and March.
This doesn't bode well for the summer. We don't expect any more significant rain
until the fall, and our reservoirs average 50% capacity.
With all of the dry grass, wildfires have already broken out around the state. This
should be a bad summer for fires. There is a 40% increase in fires already. Think
about this. We have had more fires already in the first part of the year, at a time
when the grass should be green and damp, not able to burn.
Today we reached 33 C today, May 2.
With the heat, haze, and smoke in the air, students at school have trouble both with
allergies and asthma. When I drove home from school and saw a sky that was more haze
than blue, I wondered if this will be our typical sky of the future.
Sorry to end on a sorry note! The environmental changes here are quite dramatic
right now.
On a positive side, our flower garden is bursting open with the first bloom. This
always looks the nicest. Tomato plants have small tomatoes and flowers, too.
