April Showers

While California grows a large share of the food for the country as a whole, it is actually a semi-arid climate. For example, consider the weather for following large cities to the national averages. Note that California is significantly below the national averages both in terms of average water fall and days of rain.

1. National Averages:
• July high: 86.7
• January low: 27.0
• Annual rainfall (inches): 36.3
• Days / year with some rain: 110.8


2. Los Angeles Averages:
   • July high: 75.8
   • January low: 45.4
   • Annual rainfall (inches): 12.0
   • Days / year with some rain: 35.0
   
   
3. San Francisco Averages:
   • July high: 73.6
   • January low: 41.2
   • Annual rainfall (inches): 21.0
   • Days / year with some rain: 67.0
   
   
4. San Jose Averages:
   • July high: 78.6
   • January low: 40.2
   • Annual rainfall (inches): 16.0
   • Days / year with some rain: 47.0

If it's true that April showers bring May flowers, what types of flowers might we expect to see in our fields and mountains and along our highways this month? Here's a partial list of southern California wild flowers on the web at "http://daphne.palomar.edu/wayne/topfl1.htm" Wayne's Word:

1. California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica)
2. California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica)
3. Desert Beauty (Linanthus bellus)
4. Desert Five-Spot (Eremalche rotundifolia)
5. Devil's Claw (Proboscidea althaeifolia)

I have always loved roses. They are so beautiful and their fragrance just takes my breath away. Roses always seem to have a way of cheering me up, or putting me in a better mood whenever I am down. Receiving a dozen or two of long stemmed red roses is much better than having dinner at an expensive restaurant. And for the record, I never throw away any of the roses that I received. I would just bundle them up into a bunch, hang it upside down and wait for it to dry up. And in a week's time, I will have dried roses which I can keep for a long time. Someday, I would like to have my own little rose garden with all the different species in the world . So whenever spring comes, I will always have my own little perfumed garden.

Here are several references available on the web.

California Water Resources

http://www.water-ed.org/briefing.html
Water Education Foundation: California Water Issues Briefing
A paper that discusses some of the political and environmental issues concerning California's water systems.

City Weather

http://www.pathfinder.com/money/best-cities-96/
Money Online: Best Cities
This site lists Money's best cities for 1996. It includes the weather statistics for the California cities listed in California Water.

Wild Flowers

http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/photos/flora/
CalPhotos: California Plants & Habitats
This site contains over 20,000 photographs of California plants organized by both their common and scientific names. (With 20,000 photographs, you'd think the California poppy could be in the collection!)
http://daphne.palomar.edu/wayne/topfl1.htm
Wayne's Word
An excellent collection of photographs of the top ten wild flowers found in Southern California.

Rainfall

http://nimbo.wrh.noaa.gov/cnrfc/rainrun.htm
River Forecast Center
A listing of rainfall over the last 24 hours updated hourly.

Rain and Temperature Statistics

http://www.nwsla.noaa.gov/climo.html
Temperature and Precipitation Summaries and Maps
A longer-term statistical data on temperatures and rainfall in California.