‘Drought, Drought, Drought” We kept hearing this dire prediction for the future through the mild. sunny days of November, December and spring-like New Year.

I remember years in the past when we heard the same moans and groans that became wails of “Turn it off! Rain, rain, go away!” during the early and late spring. Last year, for example, Shasta Dam had to release a lot of excess water between storms to lower the lake as a safety factor to keep the dam from overflowing and flooding the valley.

There have been drought years, of course, but often a dry fall or winter will have a wet spring, or visa-versa so what one season lacks, another season may make up the difference.

It’s true that the climate is changing, and having an effect on the weather. We’ve heard of tremendous floods in the eastern and central parts of the U.S., in Europe, in Bangladesh and other parts of the world.

This winter Alaska has had more than double its usual precipitation piled up as snow. So much of it that they have run out of space to pile it! Roads are blocked, people cannot see out their windows the snow is so deep, some places with eight feet lying on the ground.

One woman reported that her son was using their roof and snow from it as hill for sledding.

When we began having hard freezing nights, I thought to myself, “Oh, oh, that cold Arctic air is headed this way.”

The storms are sure to follow, which, of course they have. Br-r-r-r! One after another.