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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Police Reports Calendar: Saturday, Sept. 13 Garden serves up a feast fit for monarchs Ashland Fire & Rescue hosts annual rite Police Reports Education Longtime dean honored as fine leader, friend Signups underway for classes for older adults They're back (and they've brought friends) Free TED talk simulcast in Ashland Schneider Children's Center branches out Environment Garden serves up a feast fit for monarchs Only voters can make a tree tops in town Getting away from — and back into — it all Definition of 'water year' is fluid Excitement electric at first alternative fuel vehicle show Business Fretwell Music Ashlander creates new product intended to solve old problem App that promotes walking tested here Electric innovators incubate creativity Loving the leather at Village Shoes Politics and elections Mark L. 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Letters Letters to the Editor, Sept. 11 Letters to the Editor, Sept. 9 Letters to the Editor, Sept. 8 Letters to the Editor, Sept. 4 Letters to the Editor, Sept. 3 Guest opinions Two seemingly disparate moments in history Rauch replies: Frustrating, yes — yet there is method in't The summer of my discontent: An open letter to Bill Rauch Opportunities for civic involvement are plentiful in Ashland Hamas supporters spread anti-Semitism around the world Revels Latest Stories Movie listings for Varsity Theatre, Ashland Street Cinemas Jeff All-Stars share more than a name Best Bets: Sept. 11-18 'Guardians of the Galaxy' is worth the trip Community blog: Slammin' for Salmon Theater Freud v. Lewis: Intellectual heavyweights spar over life's big issues 'Freud's Last Session" at Ashland Contemporary Theatre Wise cracks and hot licks make for super show OSF adds 'Wrinkle in Time' Family Night Music Q&A: Acousta Noir The Jeff Stanley Trio at Lounge South Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhiits by regional artists Movies Movie listings for Varsity Theatre, Ashland Street Cinemas 'Guardians of the Galaxy' is worth the trip Movie listings: Sept. 5-11 Movie listings: Aug. 27-Sept. 4 'Calvary' is about darkness and dialogue Food and Drink World of Wine celebrates local varietals Lifestyle Latest Stories Confronting the tyranny of expectations Peace House honors Rabbi Michael Lerner Community Blog: Predicting Peace - 1 of 7 Staying in your home requires planning Mt. Ashland Hill Climb Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs NEWS NOW Calendar: Friday, Sept. 12 ... The Force is strong at ScienceWorks this weekend ... Calendar: Thursday, Sept. 11 ... Calendar: Friday, Sept. 12 ... The Force is strong at ScienceWorks this weekend ... Calendar: Thursday, Sept. 11 ... COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTOR: WEATHER OR NOT Definition of 'water year' is fluid Where you draw the line changes just how bad the drought numbers appear By Doyle Hirsch For the Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Doyle Hirsch For the Daily Tidings Posted Sep. 8, 2014 @ 6:16 pm By Doyle Hirsch For the Daily Tidings Posted Sep. 8, 2014 @ 6:16 pm » Social News So it's the first week in September and the beginning of what local meteorologists call a new water year. What are they talking about? If you live in the U.S., say, east of central Kansas, where rain is generally abundant (40-plus inches) and falls throughout the 12 months, you never heard of the term. If you live west of the Rockies, where rainfall is generally 20 inces or less and most precipitation falls in the late fall and winter and early spring, often as snow at the higher elevations, you may be familiar with it. It's generally defined as the precipitation that falls from the beginning of the wet season in one year to the beginning of the wet season the next year in locations where municipalities and agriculture are dependent on snow melt for the water. The USGS determines this to be Oct. 1 of one year to Sept. 30 the next. It has nothing to do with the calendar year. Seems simple, but in practice its implementation is erratic at best. The cities at the front range of the Rockies in Colorado and Uinta Mountains in Utah, which would seem totally dependent on snow fall for their water supply, use the calendar year, as do Phoenix and Tucson. West Coast states — California, Oregon and Washington, plus Idaho — generally implement some sort of water year. But there's no consistency. Much of California starts its water year on July 1! That would appear to be in the middle of the dry season (though you could argue that every season is dry in California these days). But Redding uses the calendar year for some reason. The coast, from Northern California through Oregon, uses the calendar year. The inland northwest consistently uses the water year and for places like Eugene, Portland, Seattle and Boise, that's Oct. 1. But in Southern Oregon with significantly lower rainfall (except for the Ilannoy Valley), we inexplicably start on Sept. 1. September ain't the start of the rainy season, Dick. Except for last September's anomaly, the wettest September I've recorded and incidentally the wettest month of the 2013 calendar year, that month has consistently been the second driest after July. At this location my records go back to 1985. So what does all this have to do with our drought? For the so-called water year I've got 84 percent of normal — not great, but it's been a lot worse. For the calendar year, I've got 98 percent of normal. What's happening here? What's happening is calendar year 2013. It was the second driest 12 months I've recorded — 15.32 inches, or 61 percent of normal. Only 1987 was drier and many of you will remember that smoke-filled late summer. Incidentally, the so-called water year for 2012-2013 was 94 percent of normal. We had a wet spring but there was very little snow in the mountains. Essentially, the water year was pretty irrelevant. What I'm leading up to is that we need to have the local newspapers and TV stations start reporting both so-called water year and calendar year data (the Daily Tidings has carried the calendar year data for years, thanks to some enlightened individual). Most people were clueless about how dry it was — unless, of course, you relied on a well. A recent article about a very busy well driller in Josephine Country drove that point home CoCoRaHs, a national precipitation data base out of the meteorology department at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, asks all members to report their water year data on Oct. 1! It's time for the Southern Oregon National Weather Service office to get in sync. It's like a small section of a state that doesn't use Daylight Savings Time. Also, the precipitation for the so-called water year and the calendar year can vary widely — I've had up to 10-inch discrepancies. Both are of equal value and need to be consistently reported by the media. If we are to believe the climatologists, this year is more the rule than the exception — the Mt. Ashland Ski Association's sanguine forecast for next year not withstanding. This is the first in a periodic series of columns about Ashland-area weather by Doyle Hirsch, who compiles the precipitation and temperature readings appearing daily in the Tidings. Send weather questions and column topic suggestions to Hirsch via [email protected].   By Doyle Hirsch For the Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Doyle Hirsch For the Daily Tidings Posted Sep. 8, 2014 @ 6:16 pm » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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