Plenty Of Time Remains Despite Slow Start To 2024 Water Year

With only four-fifths of an inch of rain over the past 3 months, the flora and fauna of Eaton Canyon are eagerly awaiting the onset of winter 2024. Back to back wetter than average winters in this region are very rare, with only six occurring the past eleven decades. As El Niño sets up in the equatorial East Pacific, hopes are high that a seventh such miracle will occur. As of December 1, 2023, Eaton Creek is flowing throughout 58.3% of the park, or 1.30 miles of the 2.23 mile journey. If you think it’s been dry recently, you aren’t imagining things. The 2024 water year is ranked 100 out of 120 years for the wettest start to a water year in old town Pasadena.

Early indications show our bad luck will end around the 4th week of December, and 2024 will in fact be a wetter than average winter. A powerful jet stream in the open Pacific is expected to annihilate the ridge of high pressure blocking storms from hitting California around the solstice. This will open to the door for multiple powerful storm systems to slam into the Golden State around the Christmas holiday. According the climatological records, how much rain falls between October and December has zero correlation with how much falls between January and March.

The map that follows shows where Eaton Creek is currently flowing below the main waterfall. Area with blue lines indicate active water flow, whereas areas with orange line indicate a dry creek bed.

This table shows how much of the creek bed from the main waterfall to the New York Dr. bridge was experiencing water flow for each month of 2023. We are slightly unsure of the September 1, 2023 numbers as the creek was drying up rapidly following the departure of Tropical Storm Hilary. All other months should be accurate, however. Photographic evidence of the lower wash around the Nature Center is appreciated.