Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Refreshments with Refreshing ‘Ologists: Drought and extreme weather of the Eastern Sierra, and will El Niño save us?

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

This post was written by Julie Curtis, 2014 Mono Lake Intern.

Noticed a change in weather patterns lately during this rainy August? But wait, aren’t we still in a drought?

Panorama of the Mono Basin from the north side of Mono Lake. Photo by Erv Nichols.

Join us this Wednesday at 4:00pm in the Mono Lake Committee gallery for this week’s Refreshments with Refreshing ‘Ologists lecture comparing our current drought to other dry periods in both modern times and in the pre-instrumented record.

Chris Smallcomb, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service forecast office in Reno, Nevada will be sharing the details of how this drought has changed our extreme weather in the Eastern Sierra. Chris is the primary liaison between the NWS and their emergency management, public safety, and media partners in eastern California and western Nevada. He also gives briefings to partners ahead of high-impact weather events and gives talks to the public on extreme weather and preparedness. Not only will Chris discuss the recent weather patterns, he will also take a look at the latest projections for the upcoming winter, including whether or not El Niño will bring us out of drought. We look forward to seeing you there!

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3 Comments

  1. Any chance of a synopsis post of the lecture or, even better, an article by Chris in the newsletter on this subject?

  2. Great idea for the newsletter, Ellen! Also, you can see a similar lecture online that Chris gave as part of the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Lab’s lecture series. I’ll get the link from my coworker and post it here.