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[pct-l] State on track to log soggiest year in history

Today copyrighted story in the San Diego Union Tribune available online at
http://www2.uniontrib.com/news/uniontrib/tue/news/news_1n17calstorm.html
says:
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
ASSOCIATED PRESS=20

February 17, 1998=20

After a lull that filled slopes with holiday-weekend skiers, another El
Ni=F1o-spawned storm rolled in yesterday from the Pacific.

And there's more in store for the rest of the week, with four storms poised=
 to
give Northern California one of its wettest winters ever.

"This year is definitely making a run and is on pace to certainly catch up
with
(1982-83 as) the wettest year in history," said James Bailey, assistant
chief of
the state Flood Operations Center.

In that year, when El Ni=F1o was first identified, California had twice the
usual
number of winter storms.

El Ni=F1o is a tropical Pacific phenomenon in which warm water normally=
 situated
off Australia extends eastward to western South America. It took its name=
 from
the Spanish words for baby Jesus because the warm pool usually hits the
South American coast around Christmas.

Bailey said the eight state water-measuring stations north of Sacramento are
now showing 185 percent of a normal year. By the end of the week, he said,
that could surpass 200 percent.

A fast-moving cold front blew into California yesterday, first spreading
rain and
winds across the north state and heading for the Sierra Nevada.=
 Thunderstorms
and high winds accompanied the periodic downpours. The rain began last night
in San Diego County.

In the mountains, skiers celebrating the three-day Presidents' Day weekend
were preparing to drive home, only to be met by heavy snowfall and traffic
jams.

More storms are forecast through next weekend.

"It would appear at this time, if all the quantity of precipitation that is
forecast
comes through Sunday, it looks like it could be the second wettest week of=
 the
year," Bailey said.

The storms were predicted to be cold with low snow levels in the mountains,
meaning there would be little runoff from melting snow. That is good news=
 for
stressed dams and levees along the huge dual system of the Sacramento and
San Joaquin rivers that drains the Central Valley.

This year's series of storms has caused an estimated $275 million to $300
million damage so far in 22 of the 31 counties where Gov. Pete Wilson has
declared states of emergency. At least 10 deaths are blamed on the storms.

Damage to California farms and ranches alone has reached nearly $50 million,
the California Farm Bureau Federation said yesterday. Hit hardest are
vegetable
crops along the Southern California coast and grain and hay crops in the
Sacramento Valley.

During the sunny and cloudy lull between storms Sunday and early yesterday,
residents of troubled areas had some time to repair and prepare.



Copyright 1998 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.=20
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