- Special Sections - Real Estate COLDER, WETTER, LONGER WINTERS
I could not help but laugh at âSierra Could Be Hit Hard by
Climate Change,â (Mammoth Times, May 13, 2011) as I looked out
my window at still bud-less trees and a snowpack almost four
times normal. Science use to be based on definite observation
and facts which were either true or false. Now itâs âcould,
might, maybe, if.â And no wonder. Anyone who pays attention to
the weather lately might think winters were getting colder
around here, not warmer. And they would be correct. According to
the NCDC, at www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/cag3/ca.html,
California winters are cooling at a rate of just over 1 degree
Fahrenheit per decade. One might also be of the impression that
winters were getting wetter, not drier. And you would be correct
again. Data at the NCDC shows California winters getting wetter
at the rate of 1.24 inches more water per decade. In fact, only
two winters this decade have been below average. And finally, my
favorite. It doesn