If the polar bear is the iconic image beloved of climate alarmists, then California is a location – possibly the location – most favoured by the Guardian when seeking to convince us that the end is nigh thanks to the climate crisis (sic). It’s got the lot – drought, floods, epic wildfires, storms. Make an internet search using the terms “California”, “climate” and “Guardian newspaper” and your search engine will produce dozens, if not hundreds, of results. There are too many to reference in a short article, so here are just a few from the last three years.

Starting on 27^th January 2023 there was real hope that the ongoing drought (reported on ad nauseam by the Guardian in the preceding years) would be relieved by heavy snowfall. The good news was reported thus: “As of Tuesday, the snowpack stood at 222% of average for this time of year, and was 127% of average for the entire wet season, marked on 1 April.” Of course, it couldn’t be allowed to undermine the “climate crisis” narrative. Thus, it was described as being the result of “extreme weather” that had “hammered” California in the early weeks of the year. Furthermore, we were treated to the following dire warning:

California has always been prone to flips between weather extremes, switching swiftly from wet to dry. But the climate crisis is turning up the dial, intensifying conditions on both sides of the spectrum. Models show that, while a warmer atmosphere may produce more precipitation, that will be buffered by longer dry periods. Heat also causes faster melt-off and a greater chance of rain over snow, which has hampered efforts to capture and store water during deluges, critically changing the state’s hydrologic system, according to the California department of water resources.

Just over two months later, on 1^st April 2023 we were told that it was a case of “Drought or no drought? California left pondering after record winter deluge”. Described as a boon (because it re-filled reservoirs) the significant winter precipitation still had to be described in fairly apocalyptic terms: “Then came a deluge. A dozen atmospheric river storms and several “bomb cyclones” have broken levees and buried mountain communities in snow….”. Bomb cyclones, eh? I bet we never had those before.

Still, in fairness to the Guardian, it did lay bare California’s drought problem, and it has nothing to do with a climate crisis, whether real or imagined:

…Decades of water mismanagement have drained California’s groundwater aquifers, which have supplied 60% of the state’s water during drought years. A recent study found that groundwater depletion has been accelerating in recent years, and estimated that groundwater in the Central Valley shrunk by about 36m acre-feet since 2003. That’s greater than the total capacity of Lake Mead, the biggest US surface reservoir.

The state’s groundwater has declined so much that in parts of the agricultural Central Valley, where water is pumped to irrigate vast fields as well as cities and towns, the ground has been sinking by about 1ft every year. As water levels drop, layers of soil and clay are collapsing and compacting down as well….

…Even during wet years, California’s farms pump more groundwater than is ever replenished, while rural communities across the state suffer from chronic shortfalls. …

Fast-forward just under a year to 6^th February 2024, and the wet theme continued. The Guardian’s use of extreme language was, for once, probably appropriate – it seems fair to say that California was “battered” by a storm which delivered massive amounts of rain, resulting in mudslides and deaths. The Mayor of Los Angeles was reported as having described it as an “historic storm” with “unprecedented rain”. However, it seems that, dreadful though the storm was, it wasn’t actually unprecedented:

“We’re talking about one of the wettest storm systems to impact the greater Los Angeles area” since records began, Ariel Cohen, chief NWS meteorologist in LA, told an evening news conference. “Going back to the 1870s, this is one of the top three.” [My emphasis].

A week later we were told that the rain, which fell as snow on higher ground, had gone a long way towards replenishing the snow pack. Remember that thirteen months earlier it stood at 222% of average. Now, however, despite all the snow, the statewide total had climbed to just 73% of average (from a meagre 52% a fortnight earlier).

Moving on a year or so and despite massive amounts of rain and snow, the drought just wouldn’t go away. Apparently a month’s worth of rain in a day in February 2025 wasn’t enough to counter the extended lack of rain in October 2024 – January 2025. That very dry period followed by extremely heavy rain gave the Guardian an excuse to introduce us to (or remind us of) “weather whiplash”, which we were told is “a telltale sign of the climate crisis”. And the water shortage gave the Guardian a great opportunity to tell us that the Colorado River was near a “tipping point”. Extreme drought was intensifying across the southwest United States.

What a difference a year (or less) makes. Three days ago the Guardian headline told us that “California is completely drought-free for the first time in 25 years”. The strange thing is that in February 2025 the Guardian was telling us despite rain and snow, the drought was intensifying. But eleven months later, we learn that “Some wet years and recent winter storms have helped bring the state out of drought after years of insufficient rainfall”. And so, it’s the first time since the year 2000 that not a single square mile of California is dry on the US Drought Monitor.

Good news, one might think. Not so fast. There’s still that pesky snowpack to worry about. Recent measurements from the Phillips station in the Sierra Nevada found California’s snow levels currently stand around 70% of what is average for this time of year. And since melt from the snowpack provides about a third of the water used in the state I think we can rest easy in the knowledge that before long the Guardian will offer up another climate crisis article about California. For now, though, just enjoy the fact that the crisis is over – until the next weather (dry or wet, calm or stormy) generates the next story. And don’t forget, when the Guardian once more reports about a Claifornian drought, “even during wet years, California’s farms pump more groundwater than is ever replenished”.