Another rainy (and chilly) weekend here in Southern California. We're used to seasonal December/January rains but this has extended into something different across the Southwest.
When I was mentioning how lush the vegetation had become along my downtown walks, a coworker of mine who has lived in the county for 25 years was saying he'd never seen the hillsides and ravines of his commute so green. He says what's causing this continuing weather across typically dryer California and Arizona is the eruption of an undersea volcano near Tonga last year. This heated eruption, he said, lifted tens of millions of water vapor into the Pacific's upper atmosphere, which is sourcing our ongoing rains. I haven't taken the time to research this, other than to find a few headlines dating the volcanic eruption near Tonga at January 15, 2022.
San Diego's weather is more like Portland's since the New Year. Crazy thing is my buddy says the experts aren't sure how long this goes on. There's still enough atmospheric vapor for this to continue for months.
