canyonwalker: wiseguy (Default)
[personal profile] canyonwalker
There's an upside to all the rainy, dreary weather we've been getting. After now 12 atmospheric rivers this season (again, normally 1-2 are enough to make news headlines for a few days) we're well past normal seasonal rainfalls in California. Reservoirs are filling up. A few are even discharging for the first time in a few years. We're gaining at least a one-year respite from drought.

I compiled a time series of charts from the U.S. Drought Monitor to show improvement in drought conditions over the past 6 months:

Rains the past 6 months have lessened California's drought (Mar 2023) (compiled from charts at droughtmonitor.unl.edu)

This is one of those cases where a picture is worth a thousand words. Just a few words I'll add in case you're not sure what you're seeing:

  • California has gone from being 100% in drought conditions, with significant areas deemed at Extreme or Exceptional levels of drought, to more than half the state being out of drought.

  • The major population centers on the coast are out of drought, as is the agricultural San Joaquin Valley.

  • The agricultural Sacramento River Valley remains in moderate drought.


...And the rain season's not even over yet. The weather forecast shows another storm coming through mid-next week.



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canyonwalker

May 2025

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