California Endures Rare Third Year Of La Nina

LEE VINING, CA - OCTOBER 28: Aspen trees are adorned in yellow as the fall color season comes to an end with a rare third year of La Niña expectedly ushering in a low snowfall winter and a fourth year of extreme drought on October 28, 2022 near Lee Vining, California. La Niña, or the girl, is an upwelling of unusually cold water in the Pacific Ocean off the western coast of South America, creating warmer, drier winters in California. Its brother, El Niño, pushes tropical moisture northward, causing heavier winter precipitation. The Sierra Nevada mountain snowfall is the source of more than 75 percent of the drinking water consumed by millions of Californians yet only a fraction of the normal amount of snow fell last winter. The current three years of extreme drought, from 2020 to 2022, is the driest period on record going back to 1896. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)