The most dry year of 130 on record

Not a drop of rain fell in June this year, meaning the rain season that ended Saturday was the driest in the Inland Valley in the 130 years that records have been kept here.

Of course, that's no surprise to anybody who had to pour water on lawns to keep them green this winter.

Only 4.49 inches have fallen since last July 1 in Pomona, where records have been kept since Rutherford B. Hayes was president, breaking the record low set five years ago of five inches.

Ironically, this dry year comes only two years after the wettest season ever, 2004-05, when 4 feet of rain fell in Pomona.

Throw in the fact we hit 114 degrees one day last July, mix in a sub-30-degree frost and a surprising snowfall this winter, and you gotta ask: What's going on here?

Sure, it's easy to blame all these extremes on El Ni o or La Ni a, global warming, the ozone layer or some kind of voodoo, but in those 130 years, dry years like these have hardly been unusual.

Take, for instance, the winter of 1924. Agriculture then was dependent on rain and runoff from the mountains. When less than an inch fell in January and February - our two wettest months - people started to panic.
more from the Daily Bulletin