In Sonoma County, people kayaked through the flooded streets of Healdsburg on Thursday, as the \"Pineapple Express\" storm made the record books.\r\nEven the 4.66 inches (11.8 cm) it dumped in one day on Santa Rosa in Sonoma wasn't enough to dent the state's three-year drought. But winter forecasts have turned promising, and there is now a possibility that California will be wet enough for farmers next summer to avoid some of the water worries of 2015.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nRelated stories:\r\n\r\n\r\nDrought Clouds Future of California Wine Industry\r\n\r\n\r\nRain a Welcome Relief for California Vineyards\r\n\r\n\r\nGroundwater Helps Napa Vintners Weather Drought\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\"It's helpful, absolutely,\" UC Cooperative farm advisor Mark Battany told Wine Searcher. \"The Pineapple Express was impressive, with a lot of wind and rain, and it definitely helps.\"\r\nMore important is the NOAA 90-day forecast, which gives northern California a better-than-average chance of normal rainfall during the traditionally wet months of January through March.\r\nThe NOAA also now gives a 65 percent chance of an El Niño current developing in the Pacific this winter, and that usually leads to wet weather on the U.S. West Coast.\r\nHowever, the state is so parched that normal conditions alone won't end the drought. Reservoirs are still well below capacity, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley, where most California-appellation wines come from. The NOAA says California would need five more massive storms like the Pineapple Express to really say the drought is over.\r\nMoreover, temperatures stayed warm last week, which meant snow didn't accumulate in the Sierra mountains, the state's natural reservoir.\r\nBut farmers have to be happy with the loud kickoff to the rainy season. One issue for grapegrowers with the continuing drought is the buildup of salts in the soil, especially for people who irrigate with groundwater. As water levels drop, the percentage of minerals in the water gets higher, to the point where they can become poisonous for grapevines.\r\nIt takes an above-average rainfall to leech all the salts that have built up over the past three years, Battany said. \"That's an issue for many crops. We need a lot of water. But as long as it's not another drought year, we'll take that.\"\r\nThe Pineapple Express is a non-technical term for a moisture-laden airflow that periodically moves from the Hawaiian islands to the Pacific Coast, usually bringing heavy rain. It bears no relation to a strong strain of marijuana made famous by the movie of the same name.","datePublished":"2014-12-15 00:00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-15 00:00:00","author":"@id":"https:\/\/www.wine-searcher.com\/bios","publisher":"@id":"https:\/\/www.wine-searcher.com\/#person","isPartOf":"@id":"https:\/\/www.wine-searcher.com\/m\/2014\/12\/pineapple-express-brings-welcome-rain-to-grapegrowers\/#webpage","image":"@id":"\/images\/news\/47\/78\/flood-surgace-water-san-fran-california-10004778.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","mainEntityOfPage":"@id":"https:\/\/www.wine-searcher.com\/m\/2014\/12\/pineapple-express-brings-welcome-rain-to-grapegrowers\/#webpage"}]} Latest News and FeaturesGreat Wines in the Shadow of the City
The pineapple express is an atmospheric river of moisture often flowing from the tropical Pacific near Hawaii. The jets streams of moist air, tens to hundreds of kilometers wide, can deliver huge amounts of water to the western United States; indeed up to 50 percent of the region's annual rainfall comes from atmospheric rivers.
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