Precipitation Miracles

 Sometimes, higher powers respond to our supplications.  

Water behind Lake Powell

At the end of summer, the water level of Lake Powell, fed by the Colorado River, was at record lows, and there were worries about power generation, as well as supplying needed water downstream.

But then a miracle occurred:  a series of atmospheric rivers pushed into the Southwest, dropping immense amounts of precipitation over the Colorado River drainage (see below)

Rivers rose dramatically, and the water level was rapidly elevated behind the dam:

Plenty more water will flow into the Colorado River during the next week, as shown by the predicted hydrograph below for a location upstream of the dam.

But the miracles don't stop there.  

The Yakima Valley, which had low snowpack feeding the Yakima River, received localized heavy rain at the end of the summer, allowing water restrictions to end (see below; blue is much above normal precipitation).

And now the upcoming water miracle. 

 The 15-day precipitation forecasts predict large amounts of precipitation for Northern California, whose reservoirs need a refill after the summer, and the Pacific Northwest, which has been relatively dry this autumn.

Meteorology and religion have had a long association, and perhaps there is only one thing to be said: