California experiencing its worst drought in more than a CENTURY… with no signs of it ending thanks to high pressure 'ridge' offshore that is baffling scientists

• High pressure ridge lurking offshore and blocking the typical winter storms needed to drop rain along the West Coast
• So far the ridge has been present for 13 months and the longer it last the less likely to it is to disappear
  
• Scientists have nicknamed the ridge of high pressure the 'ridiculously resilient ridge' due to its 13-month duration
• The duration of its presence is unprecedented in modern weather records and puzzling researchers
• Nearly four miles high and 2,000 miles long, the mas of high pressure is to blame for the emerging drought
  

By Jill Reilly

PUBLISHED: 06:20 EST, 23 January 2014 | UPDATED: 07:29 EST, 23 January 2014

California is experiencing its worst drought since 1895 with no signs of it abating due to a stubborn ridge of high pressure that is lurking offshore and blocking typical winter weather. 

Nearly four miles high and 2,000 miles long, it is to blame for the emerging drought as the mass of high air pressure has been blocking Pacific winter storms from coming ashore and bringing much needed to bring rain to the parched West Coast.

The duration of the upper-level ridge of high pressure anchored off its north coast - since December 2012 - is unprecedented in modern weather records and puzzling researchers.

+12

A sign warning no lifeguard on duty and no dogs on beach along a dried-out beach at Folsom Lake which is at 17 percent of capacity in Granite Bay, California

+12

A visitor explores the foundations of a wall in a mining town, known as Mormon Island which has been submerged under Folsom Lake since 1955 which is now visible due to the water level drop in Folsom

+12

California Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency in California and is asking its residents to cut back water use by 20 percent

'It's like the Sierra - a mountain range just sitting off the West Coast -- only bigger,' said Bob Benjamin, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Monterey, Calif told Sci-Today Tech.

'This ridge is sort of a mountain in the atmosphere. In most years, it comes and goes. This year it came and didn't go.'

The current high-pressure ridge is even stronger and more persistent than a similar ridge that parked over the Pacific Ocean during the 1976-77 drought, one of the worst in the 20th century.

This ridge has persisted for 13 months and the longer it lingers, the less likely it is to leave, climatologist Brian Fuchs, from the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska told Yahoo.

This high pressure ridge system is feeding on itself, 'creating a sort of perfect environment for perpetuating the dry conditions' it creates, he explained.

+12

As the nation's leading farming state, California could be in its worst dry spell in a century, unless significant rain falls within the next two months

Yesterday House Speaker John Boehner visited a dusty California field joining Central Valley Republicans to announce an emergency drought-relief bill to help farmers through what is certain to be a devastating year.

If passed, the bill that's already stirring controversy would temporarily halt restoration of the San Joaquin River designed to bring back the historic salmon flow, among other measures. Farmers want that water diverted to their crops.

Standing on the field just outside of Bakersfield, Boehner said that where he's from in Ohio, the logic applied in California regarding water policy would cause people to shake their heads.

'How you can favor fish over people is something people in my part of the world would never understand,' Boehner said. Without the emergency legislation, thousands of farmworkers will be unemployed, he said.

The bill is expected to be introduced in two weeks. It calls for allowing farmers to pump from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as water permits and forms a House-Senate committee to tackle water troubles.

Boehner was joined by three Republican colleagues: Rep. Devin Nunes of Tulare, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield and Rep. David Valadao of Hanford.

The announcement followed Gov. Jerry Brown's declaration on Friday that California is suffering from a drought.

Valadao said Boehner's visit draws the nation's attention to California's dry weather. In turn, each lawmaker railed on Senate Democrats for failing to negotiate with them.

+12

A sign warning of uneven bottom at Folsom Lake which is at 17 percent of capacity in Granite Bay

+12

The San Gabriel River winds through the dry upper reaches of San Gabriel Reservoir in the Angeles National Forest near Azusa, California

+12

Now in its third straight year of drought conditions, California is experiencing its driest year on record, dating back 119 years, and reservoirs throughout the state have low water levels

+12

Unseasonable dangerous wildfire weather helped spread the nearby 1,952-acre Colby Fire which firefighters are about to contain but not before it destroyed five homes, damaged 17 others and injured six people

In a statement, Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein rejected the claim of inaction.

Restoration of the San Joaquin River has caused fierce battles spanning years that have pitted farmers in need of irrigation water against groups that wish to bring the salmon runs back to historic levels.

'Salmon, and families (who) depend on them, are the ones we need to act to save now,' John McManus, executive director of Golden Gate Salmon Association, said in a statement. 'Salmon are dying in the drought-stricken Central Valley rivers and soon that will translate into lost jobs on the coast and inland waterways.'

The San Joaquin River starts in the Sierra Nevada east of Fresno and collects at the Friant Dam into Millerton Lake.

It flows a few miles after the dam but dries up before reaching the Pacific Ocean.

The river resumes downstream with water from the Merced, Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers, which each have salmon population.

The river's restoration is estimated to cost $1 billion in federal funds.

Among the difficulties, some former river bottom has subsided from pumping, and engineers will need to find ways to send the water uphill along its previous route. Farmland may end up flooding.

Farmer Larry Starrh, who opened up his field to the congressional delegation, said the drought has caused his family to make the difficult decision to lay fallow 1,000 acres covered with producing almond trees and leave another 2,000 across of land unused.

'Water is a weapon,' Starrh said as his voice shook with emotion. 'Water is a hostage. Our water system is battered and broken. It's been hijacked by unreasonableness, and we need help.'

+12

Yesterday House Speaker John Boehner visited a dusty California field joining Central Valley Republicans to announce an emergency drought-relief bill to help farmers through what is certain to be a devastating year

+12

Among the difficulties, some former river bottom has subsided from pumping, and engineers will need to find ways to send the water uphill along its previous route. Farmland may end up flooding

+12

Visitors on horseback ride past a boat ramp at Folsom Lake which is at 17 percent of capacity in Folsom

+12

Empty boat slips along Folsom Lake which is at 17 percent of capacity