http://www.capitalpress.com/newsletter/TH-weather-wrap-w-photos-infobox-060512

By TIM HEARDEN

Capital Press

Posted: Thursday, June 07, 2012 2:00 PM

REDDING, Calif. — The Golden State remained mostly dry and warm in May, and most crops enjoyed the sunshine.

But a hotter-than-normal summer in the Central Valley may be on the way.

In the cherry orchards being harvested by the Orland-based Burlyson Farms, the dry spring may lead to an extended season, representative Brook Bekendam said.

“It’s been pretty good,” she said as she helped customers at a farmers’ market here June 2. “We’ve actually had a really long bloom because there hasn’t been any rain. This will probably be one of our longest seasons because I talked to my boss today and there are still some green ones on the trees.”

A high-pressure ridge has been dominating the West Coast, pushing valley temperatures into triple digits on May 31 for the first time this season. Most areas received little if any rain for the month, although most reservoirs remained nearly full.

The late spring has been a sharp contrast to last year, when persistent rain in northern areas lasted into June and led to delayed fall harvests for many crops.

According to a weekly crop weather report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service in Sacramento:

* The planting of rice fields is nearly complete, while high temperatures last week helped wheat fields continue to dry and alfalfa continued to be cut, raked and baled.

* A variety of fruit crops, including plums, peaches, apricots, nectarines, apples and pears, are developing well. Pomegranates and olives were blooming last week, as blueberries, blackberries and strawberries were being picked and shipped.

* The almond crop was progressing last week. There were some reports of limbs breaking because of a heavy load. Walnuts were being sprayed for codling moth, while pistachios were about two weeks from shell hardening.

About the only thing that has suffered because of the weather has been nonirrigated pastures on the valley floor, whose quality ranged from “fair” to “very poor,” according to the report. Supplemental feeding increased as a result.

After two mild summers, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center envisions higher-than-normal temperatures for the Sacramento area and San Joaquin Valley, with northern areas expected to get normal temperatures.

The West has emerged from the La Niña atmospheric condition that is marked by storms centered on the Northwest, and indications are that El Niño’s southern-based storms may be coming this winter, said Kathy Hoxsie, a National Weather Service warning coordinator in Sacramento.

“The big question is going to be how strong,” Hoxsie said. “Now it’s kind of a weak El Niño at best. For us in Northern California, it points to a normal season.”

May rainfall

Here are the May and seasonal rainfall totals and comparisons to normal for selected California cities, according to the National Weather Service. Totals are as of May 31:

Redding: Month to date 0.05 inches (normal 1.85 inches); season to date 22.8 inches (normal 33.93 inches)

Eureka: Month to date 0.77 inches (normal 1.78 inches); season to date 38.81 inches (normal 39.58 inches)

Sacramento: Month to date trace inches (normal 0.68 inches); season to date 12.18 inches (normal 18.31 inches)

Modesto: Month to date 0.19 inches (normal 0.63 inches); season to date 8.63 inches (normal 12.99 inches)

Salinas: Month to date 0 inches (normal 0.01 inches); season to date 10.26 inches (normal 12.75 inches)

Fresno: Month to date 0 inches (normal 0.43 inches); season to date 8.15 inches (normal 11.29 inches)

Reservoir levels

Here are the percentages of capacity for California reservoirs as of Tuesday, June 5, according to the Department of Water Resources’ California Data Exchange Center:

Trinity Lake: 95 percent

Shasta Lake: 94 percent

Lake Oroville: 99 percent

New Bullards Bar Reservoir: 98 percent

Folsom Lake: 95 percent

New Melones Reservoir: 76 percent

Lake McClure: 75 percent

Millerton Lake: 84 percent

Pine Flat Reservoir: 79 percent

Lake Isabella: 37 percent

San Luis Reservoir: 62 percent