Normal Winter Predicted For Northern California

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published November 21, 2008 at 1:00 PM PST

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

The California Department of Water Resources predicts a normal winter this year in the north, but drier than normal in Southern California. The department brought together scientists to come up with t

The California Department of Water Resources predicts a normal winter this year in the north, but drier than normal in Southern California. The department brought together scientists to come up with the prediction at a winter outlook workshop today in San Diego. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The climate scientists were charged with predicting what winter will be like this year in California: wet, dry or average.

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The best guess is for normal or average precipitation in Northern California and possibly in the upper Colorado River basin, and a drier than normal winter for Southern California.

The past two water years have been critically dry, and storage in the state's reservoirs are at a 14-year low.

Officials say even a normal winter may not be enough to replenish the state's reservoirs.

Court-ordered restrictions on water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta have also reduced water supply in some parts of the state.

The San Diego County Water Authority has said that if supply doesn't improve, mandatory rationing is likely for county users sometime next year.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

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Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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