Domestic migration’s role as the main driver of population change intensified between 2016 and 2021, resulting in population gains in some counties and declines in others.
New population estimates for July 1, 2021, allow us to look at recent trends in county population change.
Natural change (the difference between births and deaths), domestic migration and international migration all contribute to how an area’s population changes over time. Some have grown mostly through domestic migration while others have traditionally grown more through natural increase (more births than deaths).
However, in recent years the national pattern has shifted in substantial ways.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to amplify existing trends of decreasing births, increasing deaths and slowing international migration, shifts in the remaining component — domestic migration — have become more prominent and are noticeably altering county growth patterns across the nation.
The maps below illustrate how widespread these differences are.
Between 2015 and 2016, counties gaining population (in dark orange, dark green, or dark purple) were located across the country, with concentrations in the West, in Texas metro areas like Dallas and Houston, and in most of Colorado and Florida (Figure 1).
There was also a cluster of gaining counties in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
In 65% of gaining counties, net domestic migration was the largest contributing component of change in absolute terms.
Counties shaded light orange, light green or light purple lost population between 2015 and 2016.
As the map shows, many of the areas that lost population (in parts of the Great Plains, the Rust Belt, and the Mississippi Delta), also did so largely because of net domestic migration.
In some parts of the country like Maine, southwest Virginia and West Virginia in Appalachia, the biggest component was natural change.
Fast forward to 2020 to 2021, and you can see a widespread change in these patterns.
During this period, more than half of counties (58%) gained population; domestic migration was the major component of change in 90% of them.
The role natural change played in 2020-to-2021 population shifts is also clear: A large swath of counties that lost population mostly because deaths outnumbered births stretched through Appalachia from southwest Virginia all the way to upstate New York.
Although natural decrease (where deaths outnumber births) wasn’t always the largest component, it occurred in 73.1% of counties — a record high.
While this comparison only considers two points in time five years apart, it does show just how unique change was amid the pandemic.
Census demographers provide more information on natural change and domestic migration in other stories.
Luke Rogers is chief of the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Branch. Kristie Wilder is a demographer in the Population Division.
On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom swore in Justice Patricia Guerrero to the California Supreme Court – the first Latina justice to serve on the bench of our state’s highest court.
A highly regarded jurist, Justice Guerrero’s nomination to the court was unanimously confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments last week.
Raised in the Imperial Valley by immigrant parents from Mexico, Justice Guerrero has served as an associate justice at the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One since 2017 and has wide-ranging experience as a trial court judge, partner at a major law firm and assistant U.S. attorney.
The governor swore in Justice Guerrero in Sacramento at a ceremony joined by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Chief Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye, California Supreme Court Associate Justice Martin Jenkins, California Supreme Court Associate Justice Carol Corrigan, Fourth District Court of Appeal Justice Judith McConnell and other members of the judiciary, legislators, and Justice Guerrero's father Jorge, sister Claudia, husband Joe, and sons Anthony and Christopher.
“This is a proud day for all Californians,” said Gov. Newsom. “A first-generation Californian and daughter of the Imperial Valley, Justice Guerrero’s extraordinary ascent to serve as the first Latina justice on our state’s highest court is not only an incredible personal achievement, it is an inspiring example of California’s enduring promise that any dream is possible, no matter who you are or where you come from. Justice Guerrero’s brilliance, integrity, work ethic and rich insights will make an invaluable contribution to the court. I’m confident that Justice Guerrero will continue her life’s work to uphold our fundamental rights and freedoms and advance equal justice and opportunity for all Californians.”
“I’m incredibly honored to take the bench on our state’s Supreme Court, and I thank everyone who has made this day possible,” said Justice Guerrero. “I am here because of the courage, sacrifices and dedication of my parents and my grandparents who, like so many others, came to this country with the hope of a brighter future for their children. I hope that my journey encourages the next generation of leaders to pursue their dreams, and I look forward to taking on this opportunity to uphold the rule of law and work to ensure equal justice under the law for every Californian.”
Justice Guerrero replaces Associate Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, who left the bench effective Oct. 31, 2021.
“Your appointment is a testimony to not only your extraordinary judicial career, but also to your devotion and commitment to the citizens of California and their access to justice,” wrote Sonia Sotomayor, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, in a letter to Justice Guerrero. “Your appointment is an important reminder of how far we have come and of how far we have yet to go. I know you will make our country proud. You already have.”
As an appellate justice at the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Justice Guerrero authored numerous opinions to protect the rights of consumers and individuals, while also ensuring that defendants’ constitutional rights are protected and that all parties, including the government, are treated fairly and consistent with the rule of law.
She served as a Judge at the San Diego County Superior Court from 2013 to 2017 and was Supervising Judge for the Family Law Division at the Court in 2017. Justice Guerrero was hired as an Associate at Latham & Watkins and became a Partner in 2006. She served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California from 2002 to 2003.
“To be the first Latina on the California Supreme Court and make history, it is clear that one must have an exceptional life story. Justice Patricia Guerrero is already inspiring young Latinas to set their sights higher and believe they can be anything they want to be,” said Orange County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth G. Macias. “Justice Guerrero will be a justice who will uphold the Constitution and protect the rights of all Californians, including the voiceless and the vulnerable. Thank you, Governor Newsom and Judicial Appointments Secretary Luis Céspedes, for recognizing the importance of having a California Supreme Court that reflects the people of this great state. The California Latino Judges Association joins Governor Newsom and Justice Guerrero in celebrating this historic moment.”
“The appointment of Justice Patricia Guerrero as the first Latina to serve on the California Supreme Court is truly a historic milestone for the judiciary and citizens of the State of California,” said retired California Supreme Court Justice Carlos R. Moreno. “I have every confidence that she will serve with distinction. Her academic credentials, her litigation experience in the trial courts as a lawyer and as a judge – civil and criminal – as well as having served as an appellate justice on the Fourth District Court of Appeal, amply confirm that she is exceptionally well-qualified to serve on our State’s highest court. I applaud Governor Newsom for this exceptional and well-deserved appointment.”
“Congratulations to Justice Guerrero on this historic and well-earned achievement,” said Vilma Martinez, former President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF. “I applaud this latest example of Gov. Newsom’s commitment to ensure that our judiciary reflects the marvelous diversity of our state.”
Justice Guerrero has contributed many hours of pro bono work, including as a member of the Advisory Board of the Immigration Justice Project, to promote due process and access to justice at all levels of the immigration and appellate court system.
She has assisted clients on a pro bono basis in immigration matters, including asylum applications and protecting vulnerable families by litigating compliance with fair housing laws.
The chief justice of the California Supreme Court named her to the Blue Ribbon Commission on the Future of the California Bar Exam and Justice Guerrero has been active in the Chief’s “Judges in the Classroom” civics program.
More than 73% — or 2,297 — of U.S. counties experienced natural decrease in 2021, up from 45.5% in 2019 and 55.5% in 2020, according to the newly released U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2021 estimates of population and components of change.
Natural decrease occurs when there are more deaths than births in a population over a given time period. In 2021, fewer births, an aging population and increased mortality – intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic — contributed to a rise in natural decrease.
The statistics released today include population estimates and components of change for the nation’s 384 metropolitan statistical areas, 543 micropolitan statistical areas and 3,143 counties.
In 2021, all counties in Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island experienced natural decrease.
Some counties also experienced population declines attributable to migration. Counties with net international migration loss (more people moving out of than into the country), were most frequently found in California (41.4%), Oregon (27.8%) and Mississippi (23.2%). States with the highest percentages of counties with net domestic migration loss (people moving from one area to another within the United States) were Alaska (80.0%), Louisiana (71.9%) and Illinois (65.7%).
Most of the nation’s counties – 2,063 or 65.6% — experienced positive domestic migration overall from 2020 to 2021. Arizona’s Maricopa County gained the most (46,866) residents from domestic migration, followed by Riverside County, California (31,251), and Collin County, Texas (30,191). Los Angeles County, California, experienced the greatest net domestic migration loss (179,757 residents), followed by New York County, New York (113,642).
“The patterns we’ve observed in domestic migration shifted in 2021,” said Dr. Christine Hartley, assistant division chief for estimates and projections in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. “Even though over time we’ve seen a higher number of counties with natural decrease and net international migration continuing to decline, in the past year, the contribution of domestic migration counteracted these trends so there were actually more counties growing than losing population.”
In many cases, there was a shift from larger, more populous counties to medium and smaller ones. These patterns contributed to population increases in 1,822 counties (58.0%), while 1,313 (41.8%) lost residents, and eight (0.3%) saw no change in population.
U.S. micro areas, up 0.2% between 2020 and 2021, grew slightly faster than U.S. metro areas, which increased by 0.1%. This is a departure from past trends when metro areas typically grew at a faster rate than micro areas.
Among metro areas, 251 (65%) experienced population increases between 2020 and 2021. Of the 543 U.S. micro areas, 287 (52.9%) had population increases in 2021.
Of the 384 metro areas in the 50 states and District of Columbia, 213 (55.5%) experienced natural decrease in 2021, with Pittsburgh, PA (-10,838); Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (-9,291); and North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL (-6,643) having the highest levels.
Sixty-three percent of metro areas had positive net domestic migration, with Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ (66,850); Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (54,319); and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (42,089) seeing the largest net domestic migration gains.
The largest metropolitan net domestic migration losses were in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (385,455); Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (204,776); San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA (128,870); and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (106,897).
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A well-known businesswoman with a long history of volunteerism and support of community causes has been chosen as the 2022 Lake County Woman of the Year.
On Monday, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) announced that the honor had been given to Jennifer Strong.
Every year, Rep. Thompson selects inspiring women from California’s Fifth District to recognize their contributions and efforts over the last year.
After the 2015 Valley fire, Strong founded the Rotary Fire Relief Fund and raised more than $1 million to support fire survivors.
“Her efforts have made our recovery easier, and her leadership is inspiring,” said Thompson.
“As a member of the Lakeport Rotary Club, she is known for organizing the Konocti Challenge which raises millions of dollars for Lake County. I am proud to recognize her as the 2022 Lake County Woman of the Year and I look forward to seeing what she continues to accomplish for our community,” Thompson added.
Strong also is owner of Strong Financial Network.
The Woman of the Year Recognition Ceremony was started in honor of Women’s History Month to recognize the service of women in our community.
In addition to Strong, the women in the other counties in the Fifth District who Thompson has selected for Woman of the Year honors include Tina Wong, Contra Costa County; Betty Labastida, Napa County; Betty Rhodes, Napa County; Hazel Wilson, Solano County; Lisa Diaz-McQuaid, Sonoma County; and Elizabeth Quiroz, Sonoma County.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — An event that teaches students about the importance of agriculture is soon to return.
The fourth Annual Lake County Ag & Natural Resources Day will be held at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Lakeport from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, May 4.
A committee of the Lake County Fair Foundation is hard at work to bring the event’s agricultural and natural resource learning experiences back to Lake County students, in-person.
The event was canceled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
New this year is a second opportunity, Ag & Natural Resources Career Day, which will take place the following week, on Wednesday, May 11, from 9 a.m. to noon.
At the career day event, high school students can learn from local farmers, businesses and educational trade schools about possible career paths. The goal is to showcase the many opportunities in the agriculture and natural resource industries that are located in Lake County.
If you or someone you know would like to support these important events, sponsorship packages are available through the Lake County Fair Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
Funds will be used to cover event costs and fund transportation for schools which could otherwise not attend.
Community members, businesses, and service clubs can support the event through sponsorships, exhibits, demonstrations and volunteering efforts.
Preregistration is required and must be submitted by April 8.
Educators should communicate with school administrators to coordinate attendance to either event.
You can learn more about the event at www.lakecountyfairfoundation.com or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
For more information, contact Blair Smith at 209-269-6766 or Sheli Wright at 707-263-6181.
Many of our members of our sailing club sometimes see langmuir lines out in Clear Lake. We'd love to hear what you might have to say about them.
Thanks!
— Come Sail with Us at Konocti Bay Sailing Club
Dear Konocti Bay Sailing Club,
Thanks for that question! This is one of my favorite types of questions because as a limnologist I get to share some awesome nerd facts for lake fans! In case you were wondering, a linologist is one who studies limnology, which is the study of fresh inland waters, including the biological, chemical, and physical processes within any fresh waters such as lakes, ponds, wetlands, streams, and creeks. Langmuir lines are physical processes, or phenomena, that occur on large lakes.
Firstly, Langmuir lines or Langmuir circulations (sometimes called “scum, foam, or algae lines”) are surface “lines” that are observed on large lakes and oceans, made up of lines or streaks of foam, sometimes called windrows (pronounced Wind-Rows), that form along the parallel edges of vertical rotating cells. During certain wind conditions, Langmuir lines can exist across large expanses of surfaces on open water, sometimes reaching for miles in very large lakes.
If the above description seemed technical and confusing, don’t worry, I will break down the specific mechanisms that form Langmuir lines in a few paragraphs.
The question about Langmuir lines also has a fascinating answer that involves a description of a physical process that inserts geometry, math, and patterns into nature. Many times we see patterns or shapes in natural systems and it’s always unexpected and amazing to see nature working with straight lines, symmetry, and numerical patterns. Langmuir lines are a prime example of nature being expressed in amazing ways.
OK, first let’s discuss how these striations got the name “Langmuir lines.”
Dr. Irving Langmuir: A physical chemist, limnologist, and science-fiction cultural inspiration
Like most naturally observed phenomena in science and engineering, discoveries made prior to the 1970/1980’s were mostly named after the lead scientist or scientists that “discovered” and described the phenomena in a published record, even if the phenomena had a description prior to that “discovery”. This is called Stigler's law of eponymy.
Many times, physical or mathematical phenomena had pre-existing traditional descriptions, sometimes existing for hundreds or thousands of years before they were “discovered” and given a “new” name. The names and titles we most commonly associate with these observances today were provided by the wave of scientific discovery that came out of the industrialization of the modern western civilizations.
Dr. Irving Langmuir was a physical chemist that did happen to uniquely discover and invent many scientific milestones, due to the advancements in technologies that industrialization made possible. In the case of Langmuir Lines, my research has not revealed any previous descriptions that existed, but of course this is limited to the written or digital record, and I fully recognize and acknowledge that there could be a description and name out there that predates Langmuirs’.
Dr. Irving Lanmuir made an observation of Langmuir Lines during a cross-atlantic journey to England in 1927. He was so intrigued, that when he returned to the States, he spent several years studying Lake George in upstate New York to further understand the mechanics behind what would later be called Langmuir Circulations, or Langmuir Lines.
Dr. Langmuir, a Columbia University engineering graduate, completed his doctorate at University of Göttingen, in Germany. After leaving academia, he worked with General Electric for about 40 years and invented the gas-filled incandescent lamp in 1913. In 1928 he coined the term “plasma” in reference to ionized gasses based on his study of charged particles emitted from filaments. His filament work led to many advances in light bulb technology that made lightbulbs in the first half of the 1900’s more efficient, more affordable, and longer-lasting.
Dr. Langmuir was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932 and his contributions to surface chemistry were so significant that the American Chemical Society named its Journal of Surface Chemistry and Colloids, Langmuir, after Dr. Irving Langmuir himself.
Kurt Vonnegut’s science fiction novel Cat’s Cradle, published a few years after Langmuir’s death, paid homage to the scientist. Apparently, the main physicist in the novel is a nobel laureate whose life shares parallels to that of Langmuir. We will never know if Irving appreciated the comparison, especially in the context of the novel’s theme, but for the world, Lagmuir’s reach and influence was significant and broad and that is the best any scientist can hope and wish for.
Deep water + Wind = Surface Water Movement or Langmuir Circulation
To understand the movement of surface water that forms Langmuir Lines, you should first be aware that lakes and oceans have layers throughout the water column. Think of a sandwich with a top, middle, and bottom layer - but each layer has its own characteristics based on light, temperature, and movement.
The top layer, called the Epilimnion, is the surface layer and the water here is the warmest (when there is no ice cover) and most active with movement, from wind and surface currents. The layer at the very bottom of a lake or ocean, is very quiet, still, dark, and cold, and called the Hypolimnion.
The layer between the top and bottom layer is called the Metalimnion, and this layer is usually the largest layer, and shares some qualities of both layers. Usually the metalimnion is warmer than the hypolimnion, but colder than the epilimnion. One thing about the metalimnion is that it’s usually really stable and does not contain much movement unless it’s being acted upon by the top or bottom layer. For example the metalminon might mix thoroughly with both layers during seasonal change, when the surface layer gets really cold and dense and sinks to the bottom.
When the lake layers are not mixing, and in their stable states, this is called lake stratification. Langmuir lines do not occur when mixing is occurring and only occur when the lake is stratified. That is because the water movement that occurs in the epilimnion is isolated, think of the atmosphere and the metalimnion being a top and bottom to the surface zone, epilimnion, of the lake or ocean.
High winds blowing in one consistent direction can cause Langmuir lines, but the wind has to be strong (greater than 11 mph or 10 knots) but not so strong that large surface waves form, which can obscure or disrupt the Langmuir line formations. The water current, if there is one, also has to be going in the same direction as the wind as cross currents will prohibit the rotations. Langmuir lines are more commonly observed in deep water bodies, although more studies being conducted in tropical lake systems are observing Langmuir circulations under certain conditions in shallow water bodies.
The wind moves the water sideways to the wind, either left or right, but in alternating directions, creating upwellings and downwellings in an alternating pattern. Think of corkscrews lined up next to each other but going in opposite directions. These are called vertical rotating cells, sandwiched between the surface of the water and the bottom of the epilimnion. The cells do not extend into the metalminon, in fact the middle layer of water acts like a hard surface, binding downward extrent of the vertical rotating cells.
So think of these rows of alternating spirals of water going in opposite directions; and we can easily see how foam, plants, trash, or other debris can get pushed into the parallel lines formed between the cells at the surface of the water. The collection of materials, between the cells, creates the appearance of straight, parallel, streaks on the surface of the water, and hence Langmuir lines.
Since Langmuir’s observation and description of his self-titled circulations, many physicists and limnologists have studied langmuir lines in great detail, and have been able to further explain their occurrence, shapes, flows, and the specific conditions that drive them to form and disappear. Most of these investigations have been possible through what are called “tracer studies”, where traceable or tagged particles are dropped in the water during an occurring Langmuir circulation and the movements can be further understood and described.
More visual details and information about the additional contribution to langmuir lines are summarized in this great video on the SciencePrimer youtube channel called “What are those streaks on the water? - Langmuir Circulation."
Again, thanks for the question Konocti Bay Sailing Club, and I will leave you with a wonderful quote by Dr. Dori Lal from her 2015 paper in the publication called The Signage. Langmuir lines are a perfect example of the “beauty of nature as revealed by geometry and the beauty of geometry as revealed in nature”.
Sincerely,
Lady of the Lake
Angela De Palma-Dow is a limnologist (limnology = study of fresh inland waters) who lives and works in Lake County. Born in Northern California, she has a Master of Science from Michigan State University. She is a Certified Lake Manager from the North American Lake Management Society, or NALMS, and she is the current president/chair of the California chapter of the Society for Freshwater Science. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can now hear from the Lady on the Lake on local radio, KPFZ 88.1, the last Sunday of every month, during the “Lake County Fire Recovery” and “What’s Next” weekly shows between 2 and 4 p.m.
NORTH COAST, Calif. — A Ukiah woman died on Monday evening in a three-vehicle crash on Highway 20 near Lake Mendocino in Mendocino County.
The California Highway Patrol’s Ukiah Area office did not release the name of the 49-year-old woman — who was riding as a passenger in a Mini Cooper that was involved in the collision — pending notification of next of kin.
The crash occurred at 5:28 p.m. Monday on Highway 20 east of Potter Valley Road during rainy conditions, the CHP said.
Based on witness statements, statements from the parties involved and the dash cam footage, the CHP said that Rafael Esquivel, 60, of Ukiah was driving a blue 2004 Mini Cooper eastbound as Michael Schmuckley, 66, of Portland, Oregon, was driving a blue 2018 Toyota Tacoma westbound.
Kurt Jensen, 49, of Clearlake was driving a black 2019 Ford Explorer westbound just behind Schmuckley, the CHP said.
At the time of the crash, the roadway was wet. The CHP said Esquivel drove through standing water causing his Mini Cooper to lose traction with the roadway. The Mini Cooper began to spin and went into the westbound lane.
The CHP said the front of the Mini Cooper collided with the driver’s side of Schmuckley’s Toyota Tacoma, which caused the Toyota to lose control and spin.
The Mini Cooper continued to spin out of control into the westbound lane and the car’s right rear collided with the front of Jensen’s Ford Explorer.
Passing motorists stopped to assist and helped extricate the Mini Cooper’s occupants. The CHP said the female passenger was unresponsive and died of her injuries at the scene.
Neither alcohol nor drugs are believed to be contributing factors in this collision, the CHP said.
Esquivel suffered major injuries, Jensen had moderate injuries and Schmuckley had none, officials said.
The CHP said the crash remains under investigation.
Anyone with information about the wreck is asked to contact the CHP’s Ukiah Area office at 707-467-4420.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — Prospective students recently were able to participate in an event at the Mendocino College Lake Center that introduced them to the campus and educational opportunities there.
On Thursday, March 17, the Mendocino College Lake Center hosted its first campus event in over two years.
Nearly 200 students from Kelseyville High School, Clear Lake High School, Upper Lake High School, Terrace Middle School and Mountain Vista Middle School were able to attend College Day to explore the Lakeport campus while meeting with college staff and faculty representing a variety of support services and educational programs.
The focus of the event was to provide potential incoming college students with information about the many career paths possible through an education at Mendocino College.
“It was invigorating to see our local Lake County students discover options for their future they did not know existed,” says Dean of Centers Amanda Xu. “The Lake Center is proud to be a resource to promote their higher education and career goals.”
Student Service programs in attendance included the Mendocino College Foundation, CalFresh outreach, tutoring, MESA, transfer counseling, disability resources, student equity, Native American student resources, Lake Family Resource Center, CAMP, Financial Aid, and EOPS. Academic departments included: Administration of Justice, Automotive, Child Development, English as a Second Language, English, Digital Arts and Media, Photography/Recording Arts, Athletics, Computer Science, Fire Science, Emergency Medical Services, Nursing, Theater, and Communications.
The college thanked the Lakeport Kiwanis group, who sponsored lunch for all student attendees.
Upcoming events at the Mendocino College centers include College Day at the Mendocino College North County Center in Willits on Thursday, March 31; the Registration Fiesta at the Mendocino College Lake Center in Lakeport on Thursday, May 12; and the Job Fair and Registration Fiesta at the Mendocino College Coast Center in Fort Bragg on Friday, May 13.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — Lake County answered the call from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who asked communities across the world to "come out of your offices" and homes and to gather "in your public squares" to show support for Ukraine.
On Saturday in Library Park in Lakeport, Lake County residents did just that.
Lakeport City Councilmember Michael Green handed out small Ukrainian flags to participants and distributed them to shops up and down main street.
People brought banners and a big Ukrainian flag which was waved to approve honks from drivers on Main Street.
It has been a full month since Russia invaded on Feb. 24. What was expected to be a rapid victory for Russia has turned into a stalemate as Ukrainian fighting forces and citizen volunteers have brought the giant Russian juggernaut to a standstill.
“The courage and resistance of the Ukrainian people has inspired the world,” said Deb Baumann of Upper Lake, one of the event’s organizers.
Baumann said people came from all over Lake County to show support.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — In a brief special meeting on Monday afternoon, the Yuba Community College District Board voted to appoint a Clearlake resident to fill a board vacancy.
The board, which met at the Lake County Campus in Clearlake as well as online, approved the provisional appointment of Douglas Harris to fill the unexpired term of William Roderick, who resigned in early February.
Roderick, elected in 2020, represented Trustee Area 7, which includes a portion of Lake County running from Clearlake Oaks in the north to Middletown in the south, as well as parts of Colusa and Glenn counties.
While Roderick’s term ends in 2024, Harris’ provisional appointment will be in effect until the next regularly scheduled board of trustees election on Nov. 8, unless a petition is filed to challenge it, according to board documents.
After Roderick’s resignation, Board President Dennise Burbank appointed a Board Ad Hoc Committee that included herself and fellow trustees Susan Alves and David Wheeler to oversee the appointment process, board documents show.
Harris, the only applicant, has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls and a master’s degree in social work from San Francisco State University.
He’s worked as a part-time instructor in human services and sociology at Yuba Community College’s Lake County Campus, and has been a clients’ rights advocate and social worker, a paralegal and housing counselor.
Harris also has extensive volunteer involvement on the Lake County Campus site council, Habitat for Humanity, planning councils and care committees, and in community groups including the Redbud Audubon Society, the Middletown Arts Center, the Lake County Land Trust and the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association.
He received support from District 2 Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, who was one of Harris’ students at the Lake County Campus; Dr. Annette Lee, who worked with Harris at the campus for 16 years; academic counselor Ingrid Larsen; and Dr. Laurie Daly, professor of Early Childhood Education, also at the Lake County Campus.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
BERKELEY, Calif. — For someone who admits to "childlike excitement" at the prospect of a snowstorm, Andrew Schwartz has the perfect job.
He's the new manager of the University of California, Berkeley's Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, or CSSL, the only continuously manned snow research outpost in the Western U.S.
He arrived there last April, and so far, he's loving it. His first season in the 75-year-old U.S. Forest Service building — both a lab and a home for him, his wife and two dogs — in Soda Springs, California, saw the second highest October snowfall ever in the Sierra Nevada and the highest snowfall for any December in recorded history.
That was good news at the onset of winter, Schwartz said, but the so-called "whiplash weather" that has become normal in California — unusually dry months followed by abnormally wet months — makes forecasting the season's snowpack highly uncertain.
A lightly dusted January was followed by a nearly dry February, which ended with a 16-inch dump of new snow three weeks ago. Less than 10 inches of snow has fallen since, and predictions are for a drier than normal spring — again.
Because the size of the snowpack determines the water flow into the state's rivers, streams and reservoirs in the spring — and the water available for agriculture, fish, industry and homes — runoff predictions also are highly uncertain.
That means that daily records from CSSL and monthly snow-depth measurements at many other sites in the Sierra Nevada are critical for state and federal water managers who monitor and plan water usage across the West and in California.
"The site is kind of unique in that there's a lot of the same measurements being made with multiple different instruments," Schwartz said. "The benefit of having us up here is that during storms, we continue manual measurements. There still isn't really a unified way of accurately measuring new snowfall, so the best way that we really have is to go out and put a pole in the middle of it and measure it by hand with rulers."
The intermittently snowy conditions so far this season are perfect for the revitalized role of the lab, which includes testing low-cost, 3D-printed snow depth sensors — prototypes created for water managers in developing countries by the 3D-Printed Automatic Weather Station, or 3D-PAWS, initiative at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado — and testing new instrumentation for the California Department of Water Resources. These projects help maintain the lab's prominence in snow science, he said.
"The snow lab was the pinnacle of snow science for a very long time, and still is, for a large portion of California," Schwartz said, noting that the lab sits in one of snowiest places in the U.S. "Snow science is more important than it's ever been, especially in the West, where snow contributes so much to our water resources."
The lab has an unparalleled record, going back more than 75 years, of daily or even hourly temperature, snowfall and snowpack measurements. While there are several hundred automated snow and precipitation stations throughout the Sierra Nevada, only CSSL has a snow scientist on site to cross-check measurements — there are four different instruments in Schwartz's backyard that measure precipitation — and provide a measure of the water content in the snow every two to three days.
"We have those long records to look at over the last 75-odd years to really try to determine what the current trends in temperature and precipitation are, compared to some of those stations that might only have a few years of data," he said.
Snow Lab Hill
Situated on Forest Service land on what locals call Snow Lab Hill, at an elevation of 6,894 feet in Soda Springs, an unincorporated community 10 miles from Truckee, the lab has been a vital, but sometimes mysterious, gem.
Schwartz plans to increase its visibility, with outreach to the community and schools and, by making all the snow and precipitation data available online, to the whole world.
One idea he hopes to realize is a simple and inexpensive snow sensor that could become a backyard staple for citizen scientists interested in local snow conditions. It would be somewhat like the 3D-PAWS device, which emits a sound pulse downward toward the snow and measures the time it takes for the reflected pulse to return, which gives the height of the snowpack.
The device Schwartz is working on can be mounted outdoors and linked to the internet via Wi-Fi in a dense network of sensors, much like the popular PurpleAir network of air quality sensors that has become vital to Westerners during the ever-expanding wildfire season.
"I have been thinking about this citizen science project for the last three years," he said. "Thousands or tens of thousands of sensors, most in mountainous regions, would be a big increase in the number of data points, giving us a better idea of how much water is up here in the snowpack and also allow for better quality control of our instruments. It would bulk up the data available to DWR and be science for everyone."
Tasked by DWR with testing new instrumentation and training its staff how to use it, Schwartz is making the snow lab indispensable to the agency, which manages and allocates water throughout the state.
The lab has always been an important asset to California, because of its continuous records of snow and rain precipitation and temperature going back to the lab's founding in 1946. With the addition of Southern Pacific Railroad data, the snow lab can see trends in snowfall back to 1879.
"The benefit of having this long record is we can see the trends that are starting to emerge from things like climate change," Schwartz said. "For example, the lab has seen an increase in overall precipitation, but a decrease in snow. With that, it's going to make managing the water that comes out of the snow pack a little bit more challenging."
Sierra snowpack is like a water tower
As Schwartz explains it, "The snowpack is effectively a water tower that sits up on top of the mountain and allows stored water to slowly trickle into reservoirs and streams."
With more rain and less snow, the water more quickly enters the reservoirs and streams and more quickly evaporates or gets whisked downstream into the ocean. That means less water during the summer for agriculture, home and urban use, and for fish.
When the lab was built, it was one of three outdoor snow labs in the montane West, that were joint projects between the U.S. Weather Bureau and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to understand the water and hydrology of the Rocky Mountains, Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada.
It is the only one that has survived. It eventually reverted to the U.S. Forest Service, which operated it from 1954 to 1995, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, shut it down and its seven full-time employees either retired or were reassigned. Luckily for the long-term snow record in the Sierra, UC Berkeley stepped in to keep it open, but with only one staff member, Randall Osterhuber, who retired in 2019.
Luck again stepped in. Robert Rhew, UC Berkeley associate professor of geography and faculty director of the campus's Central Sierra field stations, sought input about the lab's value from many of the agencies that have relied on CSSL data or even built instruments on site — DWR, the National Weather Service, the USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service, UC Davis, the University of Nevada, Reno, and the Desert Research Institute, among others.
"Each group extolled the importance of continuing Snow Lab operations, which ultimately convinced the university to allow a new station manager to be recruited," Rhew said.
Schwartz saw the job notice as he was finishing his doctorate in atmospheric science at the University of Queensland, Australia, where he wrote his thesis on the effects of bushfires, or wildfires, on the snowpack — ironically, while looking out his window at palm trees and learning to surf. He was excited, but his wife, Megan, even more so. He applied and was snapped up.
Born and raised in Denver, Schwarz said that he always loved playing in the snow — hence, his excitement at impending blizzards.
He chose to study meteorology at the Metropolitan State University of Denver while interning at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, in Boulder, where he focused on the impacts of winter weather on airports and plane deicing, or keeping planes free of ice. Upon graduation, he became an associate scientist at NCAR before applying to graduate school and shifting his focus to the impact of fires on the snowpack.
"Fire alters the characteristics of the watershed — it removes trees, allowing greater sun exposure that melts snow, and the char on the trees falls on the snow and soaks up more sunlight, causing faster melt," he said. "All of this can affect the timing of water coming out of the snowpack."
Schwarz’s work on wildfires and snowpacks undoubtedly helped him get the CSSL job, but so did his expertise fixing equipment and his willingness to do the mundane maintenance required at every field station.
When his family moved in after the lab had been empty for 18 months, he had to clean out spiders, mice, ground squirrels and all the drains.
He picked up a well-used SnowCat in Sacramento and an old, but mildly used, snowmobile through Craig's List, both of them necessary for getting up Bunny Hill Road in the winter and checking snow levels at another UC Berkeley field station, Onion Creek Experimental Forest, about 8 miles west of the CSSL.
He and his wife don't claim that life is easy. The December storms left them without power for several days around Christmas, and any storm could keep them homebound for days, if not weeks.
But local activities — snowboarding, snowmobiling and snowshoeing in the winter, mountain biking and kayaking on Lake Tahoe in the summer — provide a welcome break from snow science.
Improvements to the lab are coming, however. The main building is due for an extensive renovation, perhaps this summer, and money from DWR is helping to upgrade the scientific instruments and consolidate them on a platform high off the ground, with new power and Internet cables.
This will help with new collaborations, both on campus, around the UC system and with other California, Nevada and federal agencies, and, ideally, allow undergraduates to visit the lab for research purposes.
"It's great to be working at a place on the cusp of water resources in California at such a pertinent time," he said.
Robert Sanders writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.
The census conducted in the U.S. every 10 years is meant to count everyone. But it doesn’t actually count everyone.
After every census, the U.S. Census Bureau reports how well it did at counting every person in the country. In 2020, as in past years, the census didn’t get a completely accurate count, according to the bureau’s own reporting. The official census number reported more non-Hispanic whites and people of Asian backgrounds in the U.S. than there actually were. And it reported too few Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans who live on reservations.
The Conversation U.S. asked Aggie Yellow Horse, a sociologist and demographer at Arizona State University, to explain why, and how, the census misses people, and how it’s possible to assess who wasn’t counted._
1. Who gets missed in the census?
The people most commonly missed are those with low income, people who rent or don’t have homes at all, people who live in rural areas and people who don’t speak or read English well. Often, these are people of color – Black Americans; Indigenous peoples; or people of Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander backgrounds.
However, the pandemic made that process more difficult for the 2020 census, both by making people uncomfortable with in-person visits and by shortening the timeline for collecting the data.
2. Who got missed?
The official estimates show that the 2020 census was really very accurate, capturing 99.8% of the nation’s residents overall. But the census missed counting 3.3% of Black Americans, 5.6% of American Indians or Alaskan Natives who live on reservations and 5% of people of Hispanic or Latino origin. This could mean missing about 1.4 million Black Americans; 49,000 American Indians or Alaskan Natives who live on reservations; and 3.3 million people of Hispanic or Latino origin.
This performance is much worse than in the previous two censuses, when smaller proportions of those populations were missed.
The 2020 census also counted 1.64% more non-Hispanic whites than there actually are in the country. For example, college students could have been counted twice – at their college residence and at their parents’ home.
3. How can they count the people who were missed?
It can be puzzling to understand how the Census Bureau can know how many people it missed. Efforts for measuring census accuracy started in 1940. Census officials use two methods.
First, the Census Bureau uses demographic analysis to create an estimate of the population. That means the bureau calculates how many people might be added to the population counts, through birth registrations and immigration records, and how many people might be removed from them, through death record or emigration reports. Comparing that estimate with the actual count can reveal an overall scale of how many people the census missed.
As a second measure, the Census Bureau runs what it calls a “post-enumeration survey,” taken after the initial census data is collected. The survey is conducted independent of the census and randomly sent to a small group of households from census blocks in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The results of that survey are compared with the census results for those households and can reveal how many people were missed, or if some people were counted twice or counted in the wrong place.
4. Can the Census Bureau fix its data?
The Census Bureau has determined that its 2020 data is not accurate and has measured the amount of that inaccuracy. But in 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that the bureau cannot adjust the numbers it sent to Congress and the states for the purpose of allocating seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and, therefore, Electoral College votes. That’s because federal law bars the use of statistical sampling in apportionment decisions and requires those changes to be made only on the basis of how many people were actually counted. That means political representation in Congress may not accurately reflect the constituencies the representatives serve.
This approach can lessen the harm done to communities where the census count missed people. But it doesn’t prevent the Census Bureau from missing them – or others – in the next census.