California's water outlook for 2025 starts off positive.

The statewide snowpack within the Sierra Nevada – which provides nearly a 3rd of California's water supply – was 108% of its historic Jan. 2 average on Thursday, following a series of atmospheric river storms within the northern a part of the state in late November and mid-year. December, which increased the quantity of snow and provided nice conditions for skiers.

California's reservoirs are also in higher condition than normal after heavy rain and snow last 12 months and in 2023. As of Thursday, the state's major reservoirs were at 121% of their historic average capability from early January.

California's winter snow and rain season, which usually ends in early April, continues for about three months. Droughts could bring rainfall to a halt, experts noted Thursday.

“We're feeling good today, but we have more storms to come,” said Andy Reising, chief of the snow surveys and water supply forecast division for the state Department of Water Resources.

Reising noted that January snow levels don't at all times indicate how winter will end. Last 12 months, the statewide snowpack within the Sierra was at 28% of normal on January 2nd, but by April 1st it had increased to 111%. Conversely, in 2022, the snowpack was 150% of average on January 2nd, but after that precipitation virtually stopped, in order that on April 1st the snowpack was only 37%.

But this 12 months's reservoir levels combined with a healthy snowpack make water shortages this summer seem unlikely in most cities across the state.

Shasta, the state's largest reservoir, near Redding, was 77% full Thursday, while the second largest – Oroville in Butte County – was 68% full and San Luis Reservoir east of Gilroy was 69% full. To the south, Diamond Valley, a big downstream reservoir in Riverside County that’s critical to water supplies in Los Angeles and surrounding cities, was 97% full.

Of particular note this 12 months is the dramatic difference in precipitation between Northern California and Southern California.

The Northern Sierra snowpack was 161% of its historical average on Thursday. The Central Sierra snowpack was 94%. But the Southern Sierra was only 75% of average.

“Above the I-80 corridor we got a lot of snow with these atmospheric rivers, but it's getting less and less as we move south,” Reising said.

The rainfall amounts are much more dramatic.

Since October 1, San Francisco has received 10.2 inches of rain, or 121% of normal. But Los Angeles received virtually none in any respect throughout the same period — just 0.16 inches — or 4% of the historical average. Sunny, hot conditions kept fire danger high across Southern California over Christmas and New Year's, although Northern California's fire season almost ended around Thanksgiving when heavy rains drenched the bottom and vegetation.

Historically, Northern California gets more rain than Southern California, which is why nearly the entire state's largest reservoirs were in-built the north, said Jay Lund, associate director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis. Much of this water is transported south to towns and farms by the large canal and pump systems of the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project.

“So far this year has been very unusual,” Lund said. “The north is unusually wet and the south is very unusually dry.”

From a statewide water perspective, Lund said if one a part of the state must be dry, it's higher if it's the south.

Aside from moderate rain and snow on Friday, mostly dry conditions are forecast across the state for the subsequent two weeks.

“Extreme swings between dry and wet conditions continue to occur this winter,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the state Department of Water Resources. “If the last few years are any indication, anything could happen by April and we need to be prepared.”

California has faced three severe droughts within the last generation: from 2007 to 2009, then from 2012 to 2016 and most recently from 2020 to 2022. Scientists say that climate warming is making droughts worse, temperatures are rising and the danger of fires is increasing. However, when large atmospheric river storms blow in from the Pacific Ocean, warmer temperatures may cause them to evaporate more water, often resulting in large snowstorms and flooding risks, triggering “weather whiplash” for California and other western states.

Many experts say that given this shift, the state must do more to conserve water during wet years to cut back the severity of water shortages during droughts. Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing for construction of Sites Reservoir, a $4.5 billion off-stream reservoir in rural Colusa County north of Davis that will be in-built distant ranching areas and draw some water from the Sacramento River in wet years derives to store it in a dry place for years.

The project, backed by President Biden and each California senators, has secured most of its funding and survived two lawsuits from environmental groups that say it could harm fish within the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Before construction can begin, there may be one final hurdle that have to be cleared – obtaining water rights from the State Water Resources Control Board this 12 months.

Originally published: January 2, 2025 at 12:26 pm PST

Considering that just about everyone who played a outstanding role on this game isn't a surefire candidate for the 53-man roster, listed here are your grades for the 49ers' 17-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Saturday night:

PASS OFFENSE C

A number of key drops have hurt the stats (Tay Martin, Ronnie Bell) of starting quarterback Brandon Allen, who accomplished 7 of 13 passes for 98 yards but looked higher. Joshua Dobbs accomplished 14 of 20 passes for 146 yards and had a Hail Mary interception on the ultimate play. Dobbs is the one with the $2.25 million guarantee, however it was Allen who was more comfortable in this method and has been for the reason that start of coaching camp. Dobbs' running talent was on display with a 6-yard touchdown, but he unnecessarily took a 15-yard sack against a Tennessee blitz. Tanner Mordecai didn’t play. Pass blocking by a lot of the reserves was spotty.

Here comes the BOOM @ccam42

: Watch #SFvsTEN To @WKRN and NFL+ pic.twitter.com/GRN8dNMQBq

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) 11 August 2024

RUNNING OFFENSIVE C

The 49ers averaged just 3.5 yards per attempt (19 carries, 67 yards), but Jordan Mason (6 carries, 34 yards) was in a position to break tackles and outrun defenders on his only drive. If Shanahan is serious about reducing Christian McCaffrey's workload long-term, Mason could reach 500 yards or more this season if he stays healthy. Cory Schrader, the undrafted free agent from Missouri, rushed for six yards on five carries and Matt Brieda rushed for zero yards on six carries. Taylor rushed for 21 yards on a reverse. After Mason, there was no consistency on the bottom.

PASS DEFENSE C

A trio of Titans quarterbacks were 19 of 29 passing for 199 yards and a touchdown. The 49ers were beaten fairly recurrently on passes within the flat, surrendering pass gains of 36, 22, 18, 17, 12 and 10 yards against a team that can likely have a below-average passing attack and has three mostly shaky quarterbacks in Will Levis, Mason Rudolph and Malik Willis.

The tower handled them at Nissan Stadium

NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4nCVJ pic.twitter.com/MW5hO0biGq

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) 11 August 2024

RUN DEFENSE C

The highlight of the sport got here when freshman Malik Mustapha stopped Julius Chestnut near the goal line on a play that originally would have given Chesnut a primary down but was overturned after an appeal. It was a spectacular hit and something Mustapha couldn't deliver in training camp because there is no such thing as a tackling on the bottom. But the Titans ran the ball 36 times for 138 yards, and while the three.6 average wasn't impressive, it helped them to a 35-19 to 24-41 time-of-possession advantage.

SPECIAL TEAMS D

Tennessee's first kickoff return was 63 yards by Kearis Jackson, who averaged 40.5 yards on two returns. The 49ers were unable to do any damage as Travis Taylor returned kickoffs (averaged 19.7 yards on three returns) or punts (4 yards on his only return). Schrader had a 33-yard kickoff return within the second half. The 49ers attempted no field goals. In what could also be his only game as a 49er if Mitch Wishnowsky (knee irritation) is healthy, Pressley Harvin III punted five times for 43.2 gross and 34.0 net. His first punt was returned 26 yards by Jha'Quan Jackson.

COACHING-C

Shanahan was whistled for being on the sphere while reviewing the previous series on his tablet. The 49ers had no game plan but appeared to return out of the sport with none major injuries. Kudos to Klay Kubiak or Shanahan (whoever made the choice) for scoring two points after the Dobbs touchdown, making additional time unattainable. They didn't do it, but that hardly mattered. It was the thought that counted. Finish the thing. Playmaker Kubiak's opening series was the highlight of the sport. Nick Sorensen's first game as defensive playmaker had little flair because the 49ers played it secure.

Originally published: August 11, 2024 at 6:30 am

politics

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House told lawmakers that President Joe Biden is preparing to sign an executive order that will halt asylum claims on the U.S.-Mexico border once the typical variety of each day encounters at ports of entry reaches 2,500. The border wouldn’t reopen until that number drops to 1,500, in keeping with several people conversant in the discussions.

The figure of two,500 implies that the implementing regulation could come into force immediately since the each day numbers at the moment are higher.

The Democratic president is anticipated to announce the measures – his most aggressive unilateral move yet to manage the variety of refugees on the border – on Tuesday on the White House at an event attended by mayors from the border region.

Five people conversant in Monday's discussions confirmed the two,500 figure, while two of the people confirmed the 1,500 figure. The numbers are each day averages over the course of every week. All of the people insisted on anonymity to debate an executive order that has not yet been released.

While other border activities, reminiscent of trade, are expected to proceed, the 1,500 encounters threshold that will reopen the border to asylum seekers could also be difficult to succeed in. The last time the each day average dropped to 1,500 encounters was in July 2020, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Senior White House officials, including Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and Director of Legislative Affairs Shuwanza Goff, have been briefing lawmakers on Capitol Hill on the small print of the planned order ahead of its official announcement Tuesday. But some questions remain about how the chief order would work, particularly how much cooperation the U.S. would want from Mexican officials to implement the chief order.

The president has been considering methods to proceed on his own for months after a bipartisan bill to limit asylum on the border failed because Republicans withdrew en masse from the agreement on the urging of Donald Trump, the previous president and certain Republican presidential nominee. Biden continues to think about executive motion whilst illegal crossings on the southern border have been declining for months, thanks partially to increased efforts by Mexico.

Biden administration officials had waited until after Mexico's presidential election on Sunday to take motion on the border. Mexico elected Claudia Sheinbaum, the country's first female head of presidency, and Biden said in a press release Monday that he was committed to “advancing the values ​​and interests of both nations for the benefit of our peoples.” The two spoke by phone Monday.

The executive order will allow Biden to declare that he has pushed the bounds of his own power after lawmakers, particularly Republicans in Congress, rolled back the hardest border and asylum restrictions in a protracted time. Biden's order goals to forestall a possible surge in border encounters that might occur later this 12 months, just before the November election.

“He's trying to accomplish with this executive order some of what would have been accomplished with the bill, the bipartisan bill that was opposed by Republicans and Donald Trump,” said Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, the second-highest rating Democrat within the Senate. He said he had been briefed on the upcoming directive.

For Biden's executive order, the White House is borrowing some policies directly from that bipartisan Senate border deal, including the concept of ​​limiting asylum applications once the variety of encounters reaches a certain number. The administration desires to encourage migrants to use for asylum at ports of entry by utilizing U.S. Customs and Border Protection's CBP One app, which schedules about 1,450 appointments a day.

The administration's lawyers have planned to make use of the chief powers of Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which supplies the president broad authority to dam certain immigrants from entering the U.S. if doing so is deemed “detrimental” to the national interest. It's the identical legal justification Trump used as president for a few of his hardest immigration policies.

Interest groups are already preparing to challenge Biden's immigration order in court.

“We need to review the (executive order) before we can make final decisions on litigation,” said Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who led several of essentially the most high-profile lawsuits against Trump's border policies. “But a policy that effectively closes asylum would raise clear legal issues, just as it did when the Trump administration tried to end asylum.”

Biden will unveil his executive order accompanied by several border region mayors who the White House has invited to the announcement. Texas Mayors John Cowen of Brownsville and Ramiro Garza of Edinburg have each confirmed their invitations, and the office of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria also said the White House invited the mayor but that he was unable to attend because of scheduling difficulties.

Jennifer Babaie, an attorney with the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, Texas, said she can be concerned if Biden issued formal deportation orders without giving residents a probability to hunt asylum, something lawyers fear he may attempt to do by invoking Rule 212(f).

The pandemic-era deportation power, referred to as Title 42, has “a silver lining” for migrants because they’ll try again without fear of legal consequences, Babaie said. But a proper deportation order would expose them to criminal prosecution if they fight again and would bar them from entering the country legally in the long run.

“This is even more extreme than (Title 42) and still puts people in danger,” Babaie said.

WASHINGTON – The White House told lawmakers that President Joe Biden is preparing to sign an executive order that Asylum applications on the U.S.-Mexico border once the common variety of day by day encounters at ports of entry reaches 2,500. The border won’t reopen until that number drops to 1,500, several people aware of the discussions say.

The figure of two,500 implies that the implementing regulation could come into force immediately since the day by day numbers are actually higher.

The Democratic president is predicted to unveil the measures – his most aggressive unilateral move to this point to regulate border crossings – at an event on the White House on Tuesday, which can include Border Mayor were invited.

Five people aware of Monday's discussions confirmed the two,500 figure, while two of the people confirmed the 1,500 figure. The numbers are day by day averages over the course of per week. All of the people insisted on anonymity to debate an executive order that has not yet been released.

While other border activities, reminiscent of trade, are expected to proceed, the 1,500 encounters threshold that might reopen the border to asylum seekers could also be difficult to succeed in. The last time the day by day average dropped to 1,500 encounters was in July 2020, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Senior White House officials, including Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and Director of Legislative Affairs Shuwanza Goff, have been briefing lawmakers on Capitol Hill on the small print of the planned order ahead of its official announcement Tuesday. But some questions remain about how the manager order would work, particularly how much cooperation the U.S. would wish from Mexican officials to implement the manager order.

The president has been considering for months how you can proceed on his own after bipartisan laws to limit the best of asylum on the border failed because Republicans withdrew from the agreement in large numbers on the urging of Donald Trump, the previous president and certain Republican presidential nominee. Biden continued to think about executive motion regardless that the variety of illegal crossings on the southern border has been declining for months, partly as a consequence of increased efforts by Mexico.

Biden administration officials had waited until after Mexico's presidential election on Sunday to maneuver forward with the U.S. president's border measures. Mexico elected Claudia Sheinbaum, the country's first female leader, and Biden said in an announcement Monday that he was committed to “advancing the values ​​and interests of both nations for the benefit of our peoples.” The two spoke by phone Monday, though White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on whether or not they had discussed the pending order.

“We continue to evaluate all the options on the table,” Jean-Pierre told reporters traveling with Biden aboard Air Force One on Monday evening.

The executive order will allow Biden to declare that he has pushed the boundaries of his own power after lawmakers, particularly Republicans in Congress, rolled back the hardest border and asylum restrictions in a protracted time. Biden's order goals to forestall a possible surge in border encounters that might occur later this yr, just before the November election.

For Biden's executive order, the White House is borrowing some policies directly from the Senate's bipartisan border deal, including the thought of ​​limiting asylum applications once encounters reach a certain number. The administration desires to encourage migrants to use for asylum at ports of entry by utilizing U.S. Customs and Border Protection's CBP One app, which schedules about 1,450 appointments a day.

The administration's lawyers have planned to make use of the manager powers of Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which provides the president broad authority to dam certain immigrants from entering the U.S. if doing so is deemed “detrimental” to the national interest. It's the identical legal justification Trump used as president for a few of his hardest immigration policies.

Interest groups are already preparing to challenge Biden's immigration order in court.

“We need to review the (executive order) before we can make final decisions on litigation,” said Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who led several of probably the most high-profile lawsuits against Trump's border policies. “But a policy that effectively closes asylum would raise clear legal issues, just as it did when the Trump administration tried to end asylum.”

The White House can be sure to face vocal opposition from many Democratic lawmakers. California Senator Alex Padilla, a staunch critic of the Senate's previous border bill, said the pending order is “simply not the solution we need, and as a strategy, it's very incomplete.”

Padilla, who was also briefed on the proposal by the White House, wants an approach that works with countries across Latin America to handle the poverty and unrest that drives migration to the U.S. In recent weeks, Padilla has also pressed the White House for executive actions that profit immigrants, and said the response he has received is, “We're working on it.”

Biden will unveil his executive order accompanied by several border region mayors who the White House has invited to the announcement. Texas Mayors John Cowen of Brownsville and Ramiro Garza of Edinburg have each confirmed their invitations, and the office of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria also said the White House invited the mayor but that he was unable to attend as a consequence of scheduling difficulties.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat who said he had been briefed on the plan, said he wished the White House had taken executive motion way back, adding that Mexico's cooperation will proceed to be crucial because the administration implements the order.

“When you think about the logistics, where else are they going to go?” Cuellar said. “If they don't let them in, where are they going to go? Do they bring them back (to Mexico) or do they try to deport as many as they can? We've put a lot more money into ICE so they can be deported, but the easiest thing to do, of course, is just send them back to Mexico. To make that work, you need Mexico's help.”

Jennifer Babaie, an attorney with the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, Texas, said she could be concerned if Biden issued formal deportation orders without giving residents a likelihood to hunt asylum, something lawyers fear he may attempt to do by invoking Rule 212(f).

The pandemic-era deportation power, often known as Title 42, has “a silver lining” for migrants because they’ll try again without fear of legal consequences, Babaie said. But a proper deportation order would expose them to criminal prosecution in the event that they tried again and would bar them from entering the country legally in the long run.

“This is even more extreme than (Title 42) and still puts people in danger,” Babaie said.

Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Fatima Hussein on Air Force One contributed to this report.

Spring house hunting

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose this week to its highest level since late November, one other setback for home buyers during what’s traditionally the housing market's busiest time of yr.

“The average rate of interest on a 30-year mortgage rose to 7.17% from 7.1% last week, in line with the mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said on Thursday. A yr ago the speed averaged 6.43%.

Borrowing costs for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their mortgages, also rose this week, pushing the common rate of interest to six.44% from 6.39% last week. A yr ago, it averaged 5.71%, Freddie Mac said.

As mortgage rates rise, borrowers' costs can rise by a whole lot of dollars monthly, limiting what they will afford at a time when the U.S. housing market continues to be hit by relatively few homes on the market and rising home prices is restricted.

The average rate of interest on a 30-year mortgage has now increased 4 weeks in a row. The latest increase brings it to its highest level since November 30, when it was 7.22%.

After rising to a 23-year high of seven.79% in October, the common rate of interest on a 30-year mortgage has remained below 7% since early December on expectations that inflation would ease sufficiently this yr Federal Reserve to begin reducing the short-term rate of interest.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several aspects, including the bond market's response to the Fed's rate of interest policy and the movement of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide when pricing home loans.

Home loan rates have mostly risen after a series of reports this yr showed inflation stays higher than forecast, raising doubts about how soon the Fed might determine to begin cutting its benchmark rate of interest. The uncertainty has pushed bond yields higher.

Fed leaders themselves recently said they may keep rates of interest high for some time longer before they may fully depend on inflation falling toward its 2% goal.

The rise in mortgage rates in recent weeks is an unwelcome trend for home buyers this spring home buying season. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last month as home buyers struggled with increased mortgage rates of interest and rising prices.

Five years ago the common rate was 4.2% the St. Louis Federal Reserve.

High rates of interest have helped limit the variety of occupied homes in the marketplace, as many owners who bought or refinanced greater than two years ago are reluctant to sell their fixed-rate mortgages below 3% or 4% – a trending real estate experts say from the “lock-in” effect or “mortgage interest rate lock”.

“The rise in mortgage rates has taken the wind out of the sails of the mortgage market,” said Bob Broeksmit, CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association. “In addition to weaker affordability conditions, the lock-in effect continues to depress existing inventory levels as many homeowners remain unwilling to sell their home to purchase a new one at a higher price and mortgage rate.”

Homebuilders have been in a position to mitigate the impact of increased home loan borrowing costs this yr by offering incentives, resembling covering the associated fee of reducing the mortgage rate of interest, borne by homebuyers. That helped boost sales of newly built single-family homes, which rose 8.8% in March in comparison with a yr earlier, the study found Ministry of Commerce.

“As interest rates remain higher for longer, many homebuyers are adjusting, as this week's report shows that sales of newly built homes posted the largest increase since December 2022,” said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater.