Over on Twitter, Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) posted this:
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In response, Susan Shelley (@Susan_Shelley) made a prediction about the California legislature’s likely reaction:
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Weather obviously affects agriculture. It also impacts transportation. See the repeated closure of Interstate 80 in the Sierras last winter. Colder weather usually means a longer growing season. The heavy rains have restored Tulare Lake for the first time in about 150 years. Search for Tulare Lake in your maps app to see its location. Or you can click here. The lake is forecast to reach maximum at 182 square miles. Lake Tahoe is far deeper but covers only 191 square miles.
Tulare Lake has flooded a lot of farmland. How this will affect California agriculture is beyond my capabilities. At minimum, plantings will be delayed. And the economy will be impacted. Hopefully this will be offset by higher agricultural output in other areas due to the heavy rainfall last winter.
Others weighed in with a very long thread. Personally, I think California had a lot of rain and a very cold spring because of the Tonga volcano. But — in the immortal words of Dr. Leonard McCoy — “Dammit, Jim, I’m an economist not a meteorologist.”
