California Declares State of Emergency Ahead of El Niño Winter
As the ongoing El Niño edges into record territory, Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency for California, directing agencies to begin preparations for reducing flood, landslide, and coastal risks.
“California is strongest when we look out for one another. That is what this action is about. Giving communities the support they need, giving first responders the tools to do their jobs, and giving families the confidence that their state is ready,” Newsom said in a statement.
On Monday, the day that Newsom issued the state of emergency, climate publication CarbonBrief reported that sea surface temperatures had matched the last daily El Niño record set in 2015, adding that some scientists using a different calculation method have already called it a new record.
A natural climate phenomenon that revolves around those sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific—along with associated atmospheric signals—El Niño’s strength is tied to how far temperatures depart from normal. The phenomenon has documented impacts on weather around the world.
For North America, El Niño is associated with a southward shift of the Pacific jet stream, which can bring wetter weather to southern California, although models recently shared by Dr. Daniel Swain of Weather West show much of the state’s coast slotted in for higher odds of more-than-usual precipitation this winter.
With an event of this size, the chances of experiencing impacts consistent with El Niño are larger, though not guaranteed, according to the Climate Prediction Center. But the Chronicle recently reported that scientists are becoming increasingly confident that California is poised to get wet.
Why? Not every El Niño is the same, and ones with warm water temperatures concentrated further east close to South America have more of a track record for bringing rain to California. This is how the current El Niño is behaving. Still, the numbers game persists: the Chronicle reported that scientists say there’s a chance California ends up somewhat dry.
Newsom’s office took a cautionary angle, advising Californians that “this fall and winter could be dangerous.” The proclamation added that local residents “should take it seriously.”
For California, the office continued, El Niño “can mean repeated rounds of heavy rain, strong winds, mountain snow, flooding, landslides, debris flows, large waves, and coastal flooding, especially when storms hit during very high tides.”
Among the actions ordered, the emergency proclamation directs agencies to lead the state’s flood-risk-reduction efforts, stage flood-fighting supplies such as sandbags and pumps, and pre-position other critical equipment.
“We are not waiting for this season’s storms to be on our doorstep,” said Cal OES Director Caroline Thomas Jacobs in a statement.
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