Drought Update
California has been having the rainiest year on record since 1875 - a fact that has drastically changed the landscape of a state that was almost entirely in drought only a year ago. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information, in the past 6 months it has rained an average of 27 inches statewide, an astonishing number for a commonly rain-barren state. The 20th century average was 15.5 inches in the same time period, and the previous highest rain on record was the winter of 1968-69 when it rained an average of 27.34 inches, the agency reported.
Signs of this shift are everywhere. In the Anza Borrego desert, near the Mexican border, state park officials said, “plants are exploding into bloom” thanks to high amount of rain in December, January and February. Park officials stated that lilies are growing in the badlands and bright yellow poppy fields are sprouting in the hillside. Many of the state’s reservoirs are full or above their historic averages. For example, currently San Luis reservoir is at 99% capacity, 117% above its historical average for this time of year. This same situation applies to many other state reservoirs, including Folsom, Shasta, Trinity, and Melones reservoir.
The numbers bear out the progress made statewide. As of March in downtown Los Angeles, it has rained 12.55 inches since Jan. 1, while the average is 7.87, the National Weather Service said. Since Oct. 1 it has rained 18.5 inches downtown and the average is 11.9. Data at Long Beach Airport show a similar increase this year. The average rainfall from Jan. 1 to Friday was 14.1 inches, more than double the average of 6.42, the weather service said. It has rained 19.3 inches at the airport since Oct. 1 while the average is 10.Even in Redding, which gets its fair share of rain annually, the numbers are staggering. The Redding Airport receives 13.08 inches of rain on average, from Jan. 1 to Friday, the National Weather Service reported. So far this year it has received 20.26. Since Oct. 1, the airport has received 38.99 inches of rain, a significant leap from its average of 25.93.
“All that rain we got knocked us down pretty good in the drought severity,” said Stuart Seto of the National Weather Service. According to the U.S. Drought Report on 5/9/17, only 8% of California remains in moderate drought conditions and 1% remains in severe drought. No portion of the state can be categorized as being in extreme or exceptional drought. About 15% of the state is considered to be “abnormally dry,” according to the weekly report.
The state’s drought outlook is a turnaround from this time a year ago, when 99% of California and 37.1 million of its residents endured some category of drought. Currently, only 10.2 million Californians were living in some form of drought, according to report authors. The drought turnaround began in October, when rainfall hit four-times the annual average for that month. Since Oct. 1, California has been soaked by some 30 atmospheric rivers — Pacific-based storms that are 250 miles wide and can hold as much water as the mouth of the Mississippi River.
But it’s unclear just how much rain is left for California this year. The traditional rain season ends in March, and NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center forecasts a bone-dry summer. “Our precipitation is going to start declining rather rapidly after March. The good news is you have a great snowpack,” said CPC meteorologist David Miskus. The Sierra Nevada snowpack sits at around 178% currently. The range provides about a third of the state’s water when it's snow melts over the spring and summer.
