California’s 2023 in photos
This has been a particularly busy year for news in California. As we approach the end of 2023, we’re presenting the year of the Golden State visually, through photos. There were moments of heartbreak, transformation and wonder, many of which will resonate across the state for years to come.
The year started with a series of atmospheric river storms that dropped enormous amounts of precipitation on California. The record-breaking storms caused devastating flooding, wreaked havoc across the state and killed at least 21 people.
Eleven people were killed and nine others were injured when a gunman opened fire at a dance studio in Monterey Park in January, one of America’s deadliest mass shootings of 2023. My colleague Corina Knoll wrote a beautiful article about the community of older Asian dancers devastated by the tragedy and looked for a way to move on.
Less than 48 hours later, seven people were shot at two locations in Half Moon Bay, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of San Francisco. The successive massacres were a disturbing illustration of what feels to many people like a near-constant drumbeat of mass shootings in America.
All that winter rain made it “as close as we could get to a miracle year,” replenishing reservoirs and easing drought conditions, a California state water official said. California’s snowpack built up to its deepest depth in at least four decades, a large lake of runoff spread across farmlands in the Central Valley, and a rainbow of wildflowers emerged across the state in spring.
Some people called it the “hot labor summer”: A season of strikes began when school support workers in Los Angeles staged a three-day strike in March. Then Hollywood writers and actors went on strike, as did longshoremen, hotel workers, Amazon drivers and more.
In August, a rare tropical storm arrived, bringing more than two inches of rain to Southern California. The tropical storm warning for Hurricane Hilary was the first ever warning for Southern California. The rain even formed a new lake in the famously parched Death Valley.
In September, Dianne Feinstein, the grande dame of California Democrats and an influential voice in the US Senate for more than thirty years, died at the age of 90. Our San Francisco bureau chief, Heather Knight, wrote about how central Feinstein, a former mayor, was to some of the city’s greatest triumphs as the financial and cultural capital of the West Coast.
The culture wars were felt in California as Republicans, who have almost no power in state government or in the state’s largest cities, targeted school boards as a forum for pushing right-wing policies such as requiring parents to be notified when students try to change their behavior. gender identity. The small Pride exhibit at a San Diego library sparked unexpected fights and made news across the country.
Where we travel to
Today’s tip comes from Jorge Moreno, spokesman for California State Parks. Moreno recommends Henry W. Coe State Park in Morgan Hill:
“With 87,000 hectares of scenic hills and ridges in the Diablo Mountains, this largely undeveloped park welcomes backpackers, equestrians, mountain bikers, day hikers and anyone seeking solitude in a virtually pristine environment. Autumn is a particularly good time to visit, with temperate days, cool nights and a chance to enjoy the color of the turning leaves.”
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We will share more in future editions of the newsletter.
Tell us
What will be your New Year’s resolutions? Tell me what you hope for in 2024.
Email us at CAtoday@nytimes.com. Please include your full name and the city where you live.