California’s Best Bet to Beat This Drought? A South Pacific ‘Super Typhoon’

This is a (worrying) sign of the times

Typhoon Surigae’s path has it barrelling toward the West Coast, where remnants of the storm are expected to bring some relief to California’s drought conditions. (Photo: Screenshot via zoom.earth)

California — a state still reeling and recovering from historic wildfires, among them CA’s first gigafire — has seen far wetter days. So far in 2021, arid weather conditions have exacerbated our home state’s drought conditions that continue to grip much of California.

Swaths of the North Bay near Santa Rosa are without nearly 20 inches of normal yearly rainfall; the Bay Area is currently under “moderate” drought conditions, while Wine Country and the majority of Southern California are experiencing either “severe” or “extreme” drought levels.

But there may be moistening respite on the horizon… in the form of remains from the Category 3 “Super Typhoon” Surigae that’s presently spinning in the Philippine Sea at the moment. (The “very strong typhoon” was downgraded from a Category 5 Storm after racing through the Philippines at 190mph this weekend — one of less than 40 tropical cyclones between 1851 and 2021 that have peaked as Category 5…