It's Wednesday. Why the state's ferocious winter may be a prelude to an even more challenging spring. Plus, how a bank based in Santa Clara caused global financial panic. |
 | | Floodwaters in Watsonville on Tuesday.Nic Coury for The New York Times |
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Yet another atmospheric river. |
It arrived late Monday, flooding roads and setting off avalanche warnings in the state. Strong wind gusts accompanied the rain, knocking out power for more than 350,000 customers. |
Already, a number of powerful storms this winter have severely stressed our state's infrastructure. In coastal Monterey County, more than 1,500 people were ordered to evacuate over the weekend in Pajaro, a small agricultural community, after a river levee was breached by flooding. In the Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino mountains, sky-high piles of snow have closed roads and collapsed roofs. |
The cumulative impact of the recent back-to-back storms has left California in "uncharted territory," particularly in the Southern Sierra Nevada, where the water content of the snowpack is the largest ever recorded, said Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow specializing in water at the Public Policy Institute of California. Low-lying communities could be at risk of flooding as the snowpack melts and dam managers are forced to release water, he said. |
"It is worth remembering that almost all of our flood management infrastructure is more than a half-century old and designed around the climate of the past," Mount said. |
"While we have had many discussions about adapting to droughts of the future — and are making progress — we are still in the most nascent stages of thinking about how to adapt to larger floods." |
Punctuating Mount's point about aging infrastructure, one agency that protects Sacramento-area land from flooding had to buy a $600 part on eBay to fix a crucial pump because the manufacturer no longer carried it. "We were within 12 to 24 hours of telling the airport to reroute flights because there would have been water flooding the runways," said Kevin L. King, the general manager of the agency, Reclamation District No. 1000. |
Gov. Gavin Newsom this month has declared states of emergency that cover 43 of 58 counties in the state that have been ravaged by the recent storms, and President Biden has approved a federal emergency declaration as well. |
It's unclear how much rain we'll see in the coming weeks, but, in a bit of good news, most of California should enjoy a break from major precipitation until at least Saturday, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at U.C.L.A. That should help with recovery, he added. |
California typically has well-defined wet and dry seasons, and the state's rainiest months should come to a close soon. The state usually receives 75 percent of its annual precipitation between November and March, with December, January and February the wettest months. |
In the San Joaquin Valley, where flooding risks are especially high, some rain is expected this weekend but it shouldn't be heavy, said J.P. Kalb, a forecaster at the National Weather Service office in Hanford. Kalb said the storm wouldn't qualify as an atmospheric river, a particularly powerful kind of storm. |
But the respite is unlikely to last, he added: "I'm looking at some numbers right now, and it's showing we can expect a pretty good chance of another atmospheric river event next week from Monday to Wednesday." |
 | | Since a Supreme Court decision upended the standards for determining the constitutionality of gun laws, Saul Cornell, an authority on the history of American weapons, has been booked solid.Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times |
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If you read one story, make it this |
 | | A warning from Moody's, the credit rating agency, set off a scramble at Silicon Valley Bank not long before its collapse.Jason Henry for The New York Times |
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- School district strike: Unions representing 65,000 education workers, including teachers and support staff members in Los Angeles Unified School District could go on a three-day strike, The Los Angeles Times reports.
- Los Angeles Metro use declines: Rampant drug use and increasing crime on the Los Angeles Metro is further declining the transit system's ridership, The Los Angeles Times reports.
- Weinstein case: Los Angeles County prosecutors will not seek a retrial for Harvey Weinstein regarding the sexual assault of two women.
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- Wedding cake: A Bakersfield baker's lawyers were awarded about $3.6 million after arguing that their client's defense against a lesbian couple's discrimination accusations put a financial burden on their client, whom they represented for free, The Bakersfield Californian reports.
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 | | Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. |
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 | | Tomales Bay State Park.California Department of Parks and Recreation |
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"Scenic quiet water with little motorboat traffic ideal for kayaking (dependable daily afternoon winds ideal for small sailboats, but kayakers to watch out for). Launch from either Heart's Desire Beach at Tomales Bay State Park on the west side or from Miller's Boat Launch in Marshall on the east side. Enjoy fresh oysters at Hog Island Oyster Company or at the Marshall Oyster Store." |
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We'll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter. |
 | | Los Gatos High School. Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images |
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And before you go, some good news |
In 2021, Los Gatos High School in Silicon Valley opened a student wellness center, a space that students could visit during lunch or breaks to unwind or have a drop-in session with an on-site therapist. One in four students at the school visited the center at least once last year, The Mercury News reports. |
Housed in two converted classrooms, the center has bean bags, couches, meditation pods and activity tables. Calming music plays and the ceiling lights stay off to keep the room from feeling like a classroom. |
"When building the wellness center, we wanted to make sure it was student-led because we wanted this to be a safe space for them," Amrita Vu, the center's lead therapist, said. "It makes me so proud that students are able to come here and be completely vulnerable." |
Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow. — Soumya |
Briana Scalia, Isabella Grullón Paz and Lyna Bentahar contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com. |
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