Image: Derek Mead
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As Swain explained, the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge has simply not gone away. Image: NOAA/ESRL PSD, via Swain's blog
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On Dec. 1, he observed some light precipitation rolling down the West Coast that might bring some much needed rainfall and snow to California's Central Valley.Then, on Dec. 13, he reported—almost marveled—about how a cold front that has Canada in a "hard freeze" and has its sights set on the East Coast will actually leave California "in the midst of a slow but substantial warming trend." What followed was a solid month of weather warm enough to bring San Franciscans outside at 10 AM for Sunday yoga in the park."It's hard to complain about the fact that it's 75 degrees in January and you can put on shorts and go hike on the Pacific Crest," Swain said. "But knowing the context of it is kind of scary."Swain worries that the nice weather distracts from the scary environmental conditions in which the Golden State finds itself."It's harder to convey the urgency of a drought compared to a flood or hurricane where you have these vivid images and they require action on very short timescales," he said. "Part of the value of giving a name to this malevolent feature in the atmosphere is that it becomes part of the broader conversation about drought."It's tough to say how long the ridge will stick around. There isn't much humans can do to disrupt its reign, but a strong jet stream from the North Pole might help dissolve it.Even tying it directly to global warming is tricky, Swain said. At best, he said, it "provides us with a new data point when we study the relationship between climate change and extreme weather.""We're looking at that right now," he said. "Stay tuned. Hopefully there will be a report on this in the near future."It's harder to convey the urgency of a drought compared to a flood or hurricane where you have these vivid images and they require action on very short timescales.