(Mercury News & East Bay Times)

No. 1 PIEDMONT (15-0)

Previous ranking: 1

Update: Beat Castro Valley 85-22, Alameda 73-14, Cathedral Catholic-San Diego 80-37, Salesian 69-63.

Up next: Wednesday at Bishop O’Dowd, 5:30 p.m.

No. 2 ARCHBISHOP MITTY (14-2)

Previous ranking: 2

Update: Beat Sacred Heart Cathedral 65-45, St. Francis 79-30, Oakland Tech 68-60, Bishop O’Dowd 61-31.

Up next: Friday vs. Valley Vista-Surprise, Arizona, 7 p.m.

No. 3 SALESIAN (15-3)

Previous ranking: 3

Update: Beat St. Mary’s-Berkeley 74-40, St. Patrick-St. Vincent 52-39, Moreau Catholic 57-43. Lost to Piedmont 69-63.

Up next: Wednesday vs. Swett, 5 p.m.

No. 4 SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL (14-2)

Previous ranking: 4

Update: Lost to Archbishop Mitty 65-45. Beat Valley Christian 57-50, Menlo School 66-44.

Up next: Jan. 25 at St. Ignatius, 7:30 p.m.

No. 5 CARONDELET (17-3)

Previous ranking: 5

Update: Beat Bethel-Spanaway, Wash., 67-29, Lakeside-Seattle 56-40.

Up next: Today at San Ramon Valley, 7:30 p.m.

No. 6 OAKLAND TECH (13-5)

Previous ranking: 6

Update: Lost to St. Mary’s-Stockton 65-52. Beat Castlemont 72-16, Skyline 85-7. Lost to Archbishop Mitty 68-60. Beat Pinewood 69-59.

Up next: Friday vs. Oakland, 5:30 p.m.

No. 7 ACALANES (10-5)

Previous ranking: 7

Update: Beat Clayton Valley 95-19.

Up next: Wednesday at Northgate, 7 p.m.

No. 8 SAN RAMON VALLEY (15-3)

Previous ranking: 9

Update: Beat Dougherty Valley 67-35, California 68-39, Dougherty Valley 80-30.

Up next: Today vs. Carondelet, 7:30 p.m.

No. 9 BISHOP O’DOWD (10-5)

Previous ranking: 8

Update: Beat Castro Valley 67-41, St. Patrick-St. Vincent 59-53. Lost to Archbishop Mitty 61-31.

Up next: Wednesday vs. Piedmont, 5:30 p.m.

No. 10 PINEWOOD (5-5)

Previous ranking: 10

Update: Beat Priory 69-36, Moreau Catholic 58-56. Lost to Oakland Tech 69-59.

Up next: Today vs. Harker, 5 p.m.

No. 11 HERITAGE (13-3)

Previous ranking: 12

Update: Beat Freedom 68-49, Antioch 72-33.

Up next: Wednesday at Deer Valley, 5:30 p.m.

No. 12 MONTE VISTA (13-4)

Previous ranking: 15

Update: Beat Hayward 55-19, Dublin 76-39, California 66-46.

Up next: Today vs. Granada, 7 p.m.

No. 13 MIRAMONTE (16-2)

Previous ranking: 16

Update: Beat Las Lomas 58-18, Alhambra 63-38, Northgate 53-26.

Up next: Friday vs. Acalanes, 7 p.m.

No. 14 ST. PATRICK-ST. VINCENT (13-3)

Previous ranking: 18

Update: Beat Swett 77-28. Lost to Salesian 52-39, Bishop O’Dowd 59-53.

Up next: Today at De Anza, 7 p.m.

No. 15 PINOLE VALLEY (13-5)

Previous ranking: Not ranked

Update: Beat De Anza (forfeit), Swett 66-37, Priory 50-37.

Up next: Today at St. Mary’s-Berkeley, 7 p.m.

No. 16 LOS GATOS (12-3)

Previous ranking: Not ranked

Update: Beat Lynbrook 50-43, Palo Alto 55-44, Los Altos 47-29, Evergreen Valley 48-39.

Up next: Today vs. Saratoga, 7 p.m.

No. 17 PALO ALTO (10-4)

Previous ranking: 11

Update: Beat Saratoga 56-36. Lost to Los Gatos 55-44. Beat Monta Vista 54-45.

Up next: Thursday vs. Homestead, 7 p.m.

No. 18 MONTA VISTA (13-1)

Previous ranking: 13

Update: Lost to Palo Alto 54-45. Beat Leland 69-42.

Up next: Today at Homestead, 7 p.m.

No. 19 MOREAU CATHOLIC (9-7)

Previous ranking: Not ranked

Update: Beat Mission San Jose 33-21. Lost to Pinewood 58-56. Beat Washington-Fremont 64-25. Lost to Salesian 57-43.

Up next: Today at American, 7 p.m.

No. 20 SAN LEANDRO (13-3)

Previous ranking: 20

Update: Beat Berkeley 52-49. Lost to Francis Parker-San Diego 42-41.

Up next: Thursday vs. Bishop O’Dowd, 6:30 p.m.

Teams eligible for the Bay Area News Group rankings come from leagues based predominantly in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. For updated records, please email highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.

New rainfall totals show that no person alive has experienced a three-week period in the Bay Area as wet as these past 21 days. The last time it happened, Abraham Lincoln was president.

From Dec. 26 to Jan. 15, 17 inches of rain fell in downtown San Francisco. That’s the second-wettest three-week period at any time in San Francisco’s recorded history since daily records began in 1849 during the Gold Rush. And it’s more than five times the city’s historical average of 3.1 inches over the same time.

The only three-week period that was wetter in San Francisco — often used as the benchmark for Bay Area weather because it has the oldest records — came during the Civil War when a drowning 23.01 inches fell from Jan. 5 to Jan. 25, 1862, during a landmark winter that became known as “The Great Flood of 1862.”

“The rainfall numbers over the past three weeks just kept adding up. They became a blur,” said Jan Null, a meteorologist with Golden Gate Weather Services in Half Moon Bay, who compiled the totals. “We had a strong jet stream that was bringing in storms, one after another. It was hard along the way to separate the individual storms.”

So much rain fell since Christmas in Northern California that some cities, including Oakland, Stockton, Modesto and Livermore, already have reached their yearly average rainfall totals. In other words, if it didn’t rain another drop until October, they would still have a normal precipitation year.

The parade of soaking storms, which have caused flooding in the Central Valley, Salinas Valley and Santa Cruz Mountains, along with power outages, mudslides and at least 20 deaths statewide, left the Sierra Nevada with a statewide snowpack 251% of normal on Tuesday.

Light rain is expected Wednesday night, but otherwise forecasts call for dry conditions for much of the rest of January. River levels now are dropping.

“We’ve gotten so much water and so much snow,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA. “It’s going to help us dry out and dig out heading into late January. It’s really good news because it takes off the trajectory toward worsening flooding.”

For a sense of how much worse it has been, consider the winter of 1861-62.

Between November 1861 and January 1862, it rained so much that the Central Valley became a vast inland sea, 30 feet deep, for 300 miles. Leland Stanford, who had been elected governor, took a rowboat through the streets of Sacramento to reach his inauguration.

Warm storms on a massive snowpack that winter caused immense flooding, wiping farms, mills, bridges and in some case whole towns off the map. An estimated 4,000 people died, roughly 1% of California’s population at the time, and more than the death toll in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

Now, California has large dams and reservoirs that limit flooding in wet years. There also are thousands of miles of levees and pumps, weirs and other flood control projects that were not in place in the 1860s.

And despite the recent wet weeks, Northern California is nowhere near the final yearly rainfall total of 1861-62. San Francisco on Tuesday had 21.75 inches of rain since Oct. 1. That total would have to more than double in the coming months to reach the 49.27 inches that fell in 1861-62, or the 47.19 inches that fell in the second-wettest year in history, 1997-98.

Weather experts have become increasingly concerned that if another massive winter like 1861-62 hit — and tree rings and other historical records show they have occurred roughly every 100 to 200 years — millions of people could be trapped by floods, freeways could be shut for weeks, and the damage could reach into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

A study last summer by scientists at UCLA found that the chances of such a series of huge storms, while still remote, have roughly doubled due to climate change. Climate change has warmed ocean waters, allowing more moisture to be absorbed in atmospheric river storms.

Swain, a co-author of that study, said that climate change is already increasing the amount of moisture in such storms by about 5%, and that will climb as temperatures continue to warm.

Very wet winters are nothing new in California. Since July 1, San Francisco has had the fifth most rainfall on record. But all four of the wetter periods were in the 1800s.

“California has always had big storms like this,” said Park Williams, an associate professor of geography at UCLA, whose research has shown that droughts and wildfires are becoming more severe due to warming. “Climate change can make them more intense. But we might have had a year this wet whether or not we had climate change. And 1862 proves that.”

State should not letwater run off to ocean

Re. “Tiny fish hindering water capture,” Page A1, Jan. 14:

If what the Mercury News reported in a recent edition, that “94% of the water that flowed since New Year’s Eve through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta … has continued straight to the Pacific Ocean instead of being captured in the state’s reservoirs,” then we can officially be called the “Most Ignorant Generation” since the “Greatest Generation.”

It seems inconceivable that in the midst of a long-term drought, it makes sense to anyone that with a solution at hand (which may not be at hand next year) we literally toss that solution into the ocean. We argue the necessity of building more reservoirs to store water and yet we won’t fill the reservoirs we currently have. Something is fishy here.

Manny MoralesSan Jose

Sites Reservoir couldguard against floods

California needs to build the Sites Reservoir to store flood waters from the Sacramento River. It is needed both for water storage and protection from the types of catastrophic floods that inundated California in 1861 and 1605. The 1861 megaflood was caused by a 45-day atmospheric river.

The Sites off-stream reservoir is the most cost-effective way to protect against such storms. It would store 1.8 million acre-feet of water for 5 million homes and agricultural water needs. Govs. Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown strongly support the Sites project. While it costs $3.9 billion, it is less expensive per acre-foot than other proposals. Federal funds would be available from recently passed infrastructure bills to reduce the cost. Compared to spending $100 billon on high-speed rail, it’s a no-brainer to build the Sites Reservoir.

Ed KahlWoodside

Runoff is criticalto healthy waterways

Since the rains began we have heard and seen on TV, water from rivers rushing into the ocean. And every time the refrain is, “water wasted.”

But this is not the case.

Free and swift-flowing water is necessary for the health of our rivers and their wildlife. Even more important this rush of fresh water into the ocean is needed to protect the long-neglected health of the ocean.

We simply think of water from the homocentric “me” position. This clouds our judgment and how we manage this life source. Salmon habitat is affected, reservoirs fill with silt, rivers don’t get revitalized, silt does not get evenly distributed to replenish riparian habitats.

This rush of fresh water maintains the balance of the ocean’s salinity. It brings fresh nutrients into the ocean so that ocean plants and fauna can thrive and self-sustain.

John FrancisSan Jose

GOP should take chanceto expel George Santos

The George Santos story seems to get worse by the day. Not only did he lie about his credentials but he also may have violated campaign finance rules. He has the nerve to admit to these exaggerations but says he “did nothing unethical.” One wonders when lying became ethical.

The Democrats will rightly make a big deal about this, but the Republicans should seize the initiative and throw the bum out. They would gain stature by stepping up quickly and decisively.

Neil BonkeLos Altos

End unnecessary travelto save the planet

We were glad to see Paula Danz’s letter (“We must mitigate weather extremes,” Page A12, Jan. 15), which pointed out that extreme weather fluctuation is not a coincidence, that climate change has been wreaking havoc on our state, and that we need to stop emitting heat-trapping pollution. We know many people who already understand and totally agree with all of this -– yet they continue to plan vacations across the country or abroad. After all, they reason, they’ve saved the money for travel, and this trip or that trip has “always” been on their bucket list.

With each weather extreme we read about or experience, we hope that it will finally sink into our collective conscience that we have no correct choice but to halt all unnecessary travel. Fuel-reducing technologies aren’t enough; we can’t get out of this catastrophic mess we’ve created without immediate and large personal sacrifices.

Martha and Carl PlesciaSunnyvale

Let’s just stickwith standard time

I agree with Margaret Lawson. Keep Standard Time permanent (“If we change time, change to standard,” Page A7, Dec. 30).

Hawaii, most of Arizona, and now Mexico have permanent standard time. California, too, can have permanent standard time.

We are now standard time. Let’s keep it this way. Please, no more messing with the clocks.

Curtis GleasonPalo Alto

(Mercury News & East Bay Times)

No. 1 DOUGHERTY VALLEY (17-1)

Previous ranking: 1

Update: Beat San Ramon Valley 64-48, Granada 53-46.

Up next: Today vs. Foothill, 7:30 p.m.

No. 2 DE LA SALLE (15-4)

Previous ranking: 3

Update: Lost to Monte Vista 57-50. Beat Amador Valley 46-35, West Linn (Oregon) 63-53.

Up next: Wednesday vs. San Ramon Valley, 7:30 p.m.

No. 3 ARCHBISHOP MITTY (12-2)

Previous ranking: 4

Update: Beat St. Francis 68-60, Sacred Heart Cathedral 85-48.

Up next: Today at Archbishop Riordan, 7:30 p.m.

No. 4 CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER (16-2)

Previous ranking: 6

Update: Beat Campolindo 74-66, Acalanes 62-58, Monte Vista 60-57.

Up next: Wednesday at Las Lomas, 7:30 p.m.

No. 5 SALESIAN (13-6)

Previous ranking: 9

Update: Beat St. Mary’s-Berkeley 80-36, St. Patrick-St. Vincent 63-43, Capital Christian-Sacramento 67-56.

Up next: Wednesday at De Anza, 7 p.m.

No. 6 SAN RAMON VALLEY (16-3)

Previous ranking: 2

Update: Lost to Dougherty Valley 64-48, California 62-58. Beat Menlo-Atherton 59-51.

Up next: Wednesday at De La Salle, 7:30 p.m.

No. 7 ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN (11-3)

Previous ranking: 5

Update: Beat Serra 44-42, Valley Christian 55-34. Lost to Jesuit-Carmichael 63-52.

Up next: Today vs. Archbishop Mitty, 7:30 p.m.

No. 8 GRANADA (14-4)

Previous ranking: 8

Update: Beat Foothill 56-32. Lost to Dougherty Valley 53-46.

Up next: Today vs. Monte Vista, 7:30 p.m.

No. 9 CALIFORNIA (14-5)

Previous ranking: 7

Update: Beat Amador Valley 77-44, San Ramon Valley 62-58. Lost to Berkeley 52-34.

Up next: Today at Dublin, 7:30 p.m.

No. 10 DUBLIN (13-6)

Previous ranking: 11

Update: Beat Livermore 89-34, Monte Vista 63-46.

Up next: Today vs. California, 7:30 p.m.

No. 11 CAMPOLINDO (12-5)

Previous ranking: 10

Update: Lost to Clayton Valley 74-66. Beat Las Lomas 85-64, Oakland Tech 56-47.

Up next: Wednesday vs. College Park, 7:30 p.m.

No. 12 OAKLAND (15-5)

Previous ranking: 13

Update: Beat Skyline 81-43, Fremont-Oakland 56-48, Piedmont 73-57.

Up next: Wednesday at Castlemont, 6:30 p.m.

No. 13 PINOLE VALLEY (17-3)

Previous ranking: 16

Update: Beat Vallejo 70-48, De Anza 96-79, Miramonte 63-44.

Up next: Today vs. St. Mary’s-Berkeley, 7:30 p.m.

No. 14 THE KING’S ACADEMY (14-0)

Previous ranking: 14

Update: Beat Menlo School 64-60.

Up next: Today at Harker, 6:30 p.m.

No. 15 MONTE VISTA (14-5)

Previous ranking: 15

Update: Beat De La Salle 57-50. Lost to Dublin 63-46, Clayton Valley Charter 60-57.

Up next: Today at Granada, 7:30 p.m.

No. 16 BENICIA (14-2)

Previous ranking: 17

Update: Beat Mt. Diablo 90-58, Ygnacio Valley 77-63. Lost to Cosumnes Oaks 75-68.

Up next: Wednesday at Concord, 7 p.m.

No. 17 MOREAU CATHOLIC (9-5)

Previous ranking: 12

Update: Beat Mission San Jose 86-43, Washington-Fremont 75-53. Lost to San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno 79-55.

Up next: Today vs. American, 7 p.m.

No. 18 ST. FRANCIS (9-4)

Previous ranking: 18

Update: Lost to Archbishop Mitty 68-60. Beat St. Ignatius 74-69 (OT).

Up next: Today vs. Serra, 7:30 p.m.

No. 19 ALAMEDA (13-3)

Previous ranking: 20

Update: Beat San Lorenzo 89-54. Lost to Piedmont 59-57. Beat Berkeley 60-58.

Up next: Wednesday at Castro Valley, 7 p.m.

No. 20 BERKELEY (12-5)

Previous ranking: Not ranked

Update: Beat San Leandro 54-42. Lost to Alameda 60-58. Beat California 52-54.

Up next: Wednesday at St. Joseph Notre Dame, 7 p.m.

Teams eligible for the Bay Area News Group rankings come from leagues based predominantly in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. For updated records, please email highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) boys Athlete of the Week poll.

For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner.

This week, we consider performances from Jan. 9-14.

This week, polls close at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Vote as many times as you’d like until then without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting.

Votes by email are not counted.

Scroll to the bottom for the poll.

Winners are announced each Friday online and, starting Sept. 30, in the print edition of the Mercury News and East Bay Times sports sections.

Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.

We accept nominations until 11 a.m. each Monday.

We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians.

On to the nominees:

Alec Balica, Castro Valley soccer: The junior had himself a game against Encinal, scoring four goals to lead the Trojans to a 7-1 victory in West Alameda County Conference Foothill Division play. Balica continued his torrid play to open this week, scoring two goals Monday in a 4-0 win over San Leandro, which improved Castro Valley’s record to 6-2-3 overall and 4-1-1 in the league.

Josh Clark, Oakland basketball: The senior scored in double figures in both of the Wildcats’ victories in Oakland Athletic League play last week. He had 11 points in a 56-48 victory over Fremont-Oakland and 12 in an 81-43 rout of Skyline. Clark shot a combined 50% (8 of 16) from the field.

Andre Gonzalez Lombera, Menlo School soccer: The junior scored in the 75th minute as Menlo defeated The King’s Academy 3-2. He also scored twice in a 3-2 win over Crystal Springs and had a goal in a 3-0 win over Harker as the Knights improved to 3-0 in West Bay Athletic League play.

Max Houghton, Los Gatos basketball: Led the way with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists as the Wildcats defeated Los Altos 52-33 on Friday. Two days earlier, he had 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting — and 6 for 6 free-throw shooting — in a 60-41 victory over Palo Alto. Los Gatos ended the week 11-4 overall and 3-0 in its league.

Braddock Kjellesvig, Christopher basketball: The 6-foot-6 sophomore finished with 28 points on 10-of-11 shooting and 10 rebounds as Christopher defeated Oak Grove 59-50 in a BVAL Mt. Hamilton East Division opener. The forward/center followed that game with 26 points and 15 rebounds on 13-of-15 shooting in a 67-42 rout of Santa Teresa on Friday as Christopher improved to 11-3, 2-0.

Samir O’Brien, Berkeley basketball: Coming off a tough loss to Alameda in league play on Friday, Berkeley bounced back on Saturday at its MLK Classic with a stunning 52-34 victory over seventh-ranked California as O’Brien led the Yellowjackets in scoring with 14 points. The result improved Berkeley’s record to 12-5.

Kiratraj Sanghera, American basketball: In a 55-52 victory over Mission San Jose, the 6-foot-5 junior had 24 points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Earlier in the week, he filled the stat sheet with 31 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks in a 60-59 loss to James Logan. In the two games, he was 25 for 42 shooting (60%).

Gael Segura, Half Moon Bay soccer: The senior scored a goal and assisted on another as Half Moon Bay stayed red hot with a 3-1 victory over South San Francisco in Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division play. The Cougars began this week with a record of 10-0-2 overall and 2-0 in their league.

Tyler Suzuki, Leigh basketball: The junior shooting guard helped the Longhorns open BVAL Mt. Hamilton West Division play with two victories on the road. He scored 19 points in a 64-50 win over Independence and 14 in a 65-51 win over Piedmont Hills.

Angel Vasquez, James Logan soccer: The sophomore scored both of his team’s goals as James Logan beat Kennedy-Fremont 2-0 in a Mission Valley Athletic League match. The victory improved the Colts’ record to 9-5-1, 5-1.

Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) boys Athlete of the Week poll.

For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner.

This week, we consider performances from Jan. 9-14. Polls close at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Vote as many times as you’d like until then without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting.

Votes by email are not counted.

Scroll to the bottom for the poll.

Winners are announced each Friday online and, starting Sept. 30, in the print edition of the Mercury News and East Bay Times sports sections.

Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.

We accept nominations until 11 a.m. each Monday.

We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians.

On to the nominees:

Makiah Asidanya, Salesian basketball: Asidanya scored 14 points, had seven steals and handed out five assists in a league matchup against St. Mary’s Berkeley. Asidanya is committed to the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. 

Trinity Chu, California basketball: The sophomore guard scored an efficient 22 points in the Grizzlies’ 60-32 league win over Amador Valley. Chu made 8 of 11 shots and contributed four steals on the defensive side too. 

Kiarra D’Arcangelo, Westmont soccer: D’Arcangelo scored a goal and had an assist in Westmont’s 4-1 win over James Lick. It marked the first time the junior had not scored twice in a game in which she found the back of the net. 

Madelyn Funk, Livermore soccer: Livermore’s junior goalkeeper helped keep another clean sheet during Livermore’s scoreless draw with Granada. According to stats inputted into MaxPreps, she has allowed only three goals in 495 minutes of play and has 31 saves. 

Audrey Le-Nguyen, Campolindo soccer: The senior was arguably Campolindo’s best player in last week’s thrilling 4-3 victory over College Park. She scored one goal and found her teammates for two additional assists. 

Amanda Muse, Heritage basketball: The Patriots’ senior center scored her 1,000th career point in a blowout win over Antioch last Friday. The UCLA commit became only the fourth player in the program’s history to reach that mark. Muse scored 17 in the game. 

Kori Pickelle, Santa Teresa soccer: The senior scored a hat trick (three goals) in Santa Teresa’s 4-1 win over Prospect last week. Earlier in the season, PIckelle had two goals and two assists in a win over Independence. 

Kennedy Schoennauer, Lincoln-San Jose soccer: The Utah commit has continued to have a banner senior season for the Lions. Schoennauer scored five goals in a win over Christopher, the third time she has reached that mark in a match this season. 

Quinn Shirley, Aragon soccer: The sophomore midfielder scored two goals in a 3-0 win over Capuchino. Shirley has three goals and four assists this season for a 6-1 Aragon team. 

For this point in the water year — which starts in October — the totals are around twice the average at many Bay Area spots. November was drier than normal, and December brought about double the average rainfall.

The totals below are from Dec. 1 to Jan. 16 at National Weather Service stations.

The site of the greatest reading, Uvas Canyon, is at 1,100 feet elevation near the Casa Loma fire station, about 2 miles east of Loma Prieta.

To the south, Mining Ridge, at 3,288 feet elevation in Big Sur, has recorded 84.16 inches from Dec. 1 to this week.

Read more: 35 key figures that sum up the atmospheric river blitz

National Weather Service predictions showed calm, chilly air Tuesday in the Bay Area. Highs in the mid-50s were consistent throughout, with San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland each expected to top out at 55 degrees. Overnight temperatures could drop to the mid-30s, however, accompanied by calm winds and a dry, rainless night.

Those showers should diminish by Thursday, however, as temperatures were forecast to drop to highs in the low 50s before slowly rising to the high 50s by Saturday, giving the Bay Area its first completely dry weekend of 2023.

That seems to be their standard answer. The area I noted has been this way for at least four years now.

I know I echo many residents in the Santa Clara Valley when I say how bad our roads are! I voted yes for taxes associated with SB1 several years ago, but really see no improvement (except recently reviving Highway 17 through Campbell into Los Gatos). I will not vote yes on any proposed state or local road improvement ballot measures until I see tangible improvements to our roads.

Mark Milioto Sr., San Jose

A: The state has set aside more than $50 billion to smooth out roads over the next decade. The challenge is that the need is much greater than that, and the need has increased with all the rain these last three weeks.

Q: Roads in the Bay Area are in deplorable condition everywhere.

Interstate 880 through Fremont has become so rough and the noise level from it so high that I wear earplugs to protect my hearing. (We hear about air pollution, but noise pollution is significant, as well. Hearing loss is permanent!).

It seems like Caltrans took advantage of the pandemic to forge ahead on pet projects and neglected basic responsibilities.

Is there any way to compel Caltrans to prioritize restoration and maintenance of our roadways so they are at least safe to drive on? Who makes their decisions and who do they answer to?

Lynne Mercer

A: Caltrans has begun to prioritize maintenance over some other projects. Significant rain damage is going to require even more of that.

Q: After reading the recent front page story about potholes, I counted the potholes as I drove 101 in both directions between Whipple Avenue and 92.

I counted at least 46 potholes, varying in size from 1 to 15 feet long, within that 9-mile freeway stretch, 7 on the southbound route and 39 on the northbound route.

This roadway was completely renovated within the past 2 years. Until December, it had fresh, smooth, quiet pavement that was a joy to drive on.

I expect better results when Caltrans spends millions of dollars, and say a contractor owes us answers. Is this recently-completed project really degrading so badly so soon? And what does Caltrans say about this?

Richard Thomas, Redwood City

A: You’re right. This renovation should have held up better than it has. Roads and repairs need to handle greater extremes of weather now, from September’s searing heat dome to the deluge of recent days.

Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Let me fill you in on what the state Legislature accomplished. We set new, ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and made climate-friendly solutions more affordable so every Californian can be a part of the fight against climate change.

First, the Legislature put its money where its mouth is. Last year’s state budget committed nearly $54 billion over the next five years to fight climate change. There is money to accelerate investments in zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) to make cars, trucks and buses more affordable, make the state’s electricity grid more reliable, help prevent wildfires and mitigate the impact of the state’s historic drought – and so much more.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new budget proposes to reduce some of this funding, but it still maintains $48 billion, or 89%, of these investments. As the new chair of the budget subcommittee that oversees energy and natural resources, I will fight to preserve and increase as many of these investments as possible.

California also refined and set major new goals. The landmark AB 1279 (Muratsuchi) creates a legally binding target to achieve net zero emissions by 2045 in all of California. My SB 1203, better known as “California Zero,” requires the state to develop a plan for getting its 24,000 buildings and structures, vehicle fleet, and electricity usage to net zero GHG emissions by 2035.

We’re pushing for more and better electrical vehicle charging stations. The budget set aside over $600 million over the next several years to build out the state’s charging infrastructure and AB 2061 (Ting) requires the state to set standards to ensure drivers are getting what they pay for.

Thousands of more Californians will be able to have climate-friendly homes because of work at the state and federal level. Heat pumps that provide GHG-free heating and air conditioning, electric hot water heaters and other home appliances that replace their natural gas counterparts will reduce our carbon footprint. My SB 1112 will let many people pay for these  climate-friendly improvements and others via an interest-free payment on their monthly utility bill, similar to how many people pay for their mobile phone as part of their monthly phone bill.

The plastic waste crisis has been well-documented and last year, the Legislature passed and the governor signed the most comprehensive measure in the nation to help tackle it. SB 54 (Allen) sets ambitious environmental mandates to ensure single-use plastic packaging and plastic food-related items can be recycled or composted within 10 years. It also calls for a 25% cut in the amount of plastic-covered material sold in California.

Finally, the governor issued an executive order pledging California will conserve 30% of the state’s land and waters by 2030 – better known as “30-by-30.” Given studies showing conservation efforts could soak up a significant amount of the carbon dioxide that has built up over the past 175 years, it’s clear efforts like “30 by 30” will play a major role in our battle against climate change.

The progress we made battling climate change in 2022 was indeed historic and will provide other states and countries with a model on how to best fight climate change. But we have so much more work to do. We need to be just as productive for years to come if we are going to win this fight. I truly believe California is up to the challenge.

Josh Becker D-San Mateo, represents District 13 in the California Senate. He is chair of the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Resources, Environmental Protection and Energy.