This change was due to an exceedingly wet pattern caused by atmospheric river-enhanced Pacific storms, which caused severe flooding. īy February 2017, the state's drought percentage returned to lower levels seen before the start of the drought. The cause of the drought was attributed to a ridge of high pressure in the Pacific Sea-the " Ridiculously Resilient Ridge"-which often barred powerful winter storms from reaching the state. The drought wiped out 102 million trees from 2011 to 2016, 62 million of those during 2016 alone. The 2011–2017 California drought persisted from December 2011 to March 2017 and consisted of the driest period in California's recorded history, late 2011 through 2014. If it arrives, how will El Niño influence things? It’s too early to say for sure, but keep an eye out for the winter season outlook, which the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center will issue later this month.Severe drought Progression of the drought from December 2013 to July 2014 Will it be a repeat of many previous years where the rains and snow simply did not materialize? Or will it be a return to the wet conditions seen during 2016-2017. However, reservoirs in the central valley currently are at above-average levels ranging from 110 to 133% above-average.Īs we begin a new water year in California, many will be curious to see what the 2019 water year has in store. As of the end of September, many of the reservoirs in California were below-average in capacity, including the state’s two largest reservoirs, located in northern California: Lake Shasta-88% full-and Lake Oroville-62% full. Low precipitation totals usually mean lower reservoir levels, and (sometimes) difficult choices for state and local water managers. ![]() Much of the precipitation that falls in California’s mountains eventually finds its way into reservoirs across the state. Meanwhile, across higher elevations in the San Joaquin Valley in central California, the average precipitation totals across five observing stations reached only 29.7 inches of precipitation, 10.5 inches below normal. The end result was by the end of September 2018, the water year was below-average, significantly so in some locations.įor instance, across the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains, where snowpack is important for summer water needs, an eight-station average of precipitation amounts put the 2018 water year at 41 inches in total, more than 10 inches below average. After March, seasonal precipitation totals dropped off incredibly fast to nearly non-existent during the dry summer months. ![]() Precipitation totals continued to be below-average through the first two months of 2018, before the state finally observed a month, March, where statewide rainfall totals were average to above-average.īy that point, it was too little too late to change the yearly picture as the climatological peak of rainfall-December through February-had already passed. And unlike the prior year, when torrential rains fell during January, the 2018 water year saw no similar rebound. This led to a substantial precipitation deficit as the calendar turned to 2018. The 2018 water year in California got off to a poor start as rains and snows during October and December 2017 were hard to come by. ![]() Rather than splitting a given year’s precipitation totals across the calendar year, experts recognize a “water year” that runs from October through the following September. image using data from the National Centers for Environmental Information.Ĭompared to precipitation east of the Mississippi, precipitation in the West is sharply seasonal, with wetter winters and much drier summers. The water year was below-average in terms of precipitation statewide leading to lower-than-normal water levels in the two largest reservoirs in the state. Percent of normal monthly precipitation from October 2017-September 2018, which represents the 2017-2018 water year for California.
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