Last winter's total of 15.09' was just 60% of a normal rainfall year. Instead, what you really have is a function of the calendar. Combine that with the 14.2' of rain we got in our wet October and December, and you end up with a year that looks like it was 12% wetter than average. But still, the 13.85' we got January-June was more than 80% of our averages for those months. That ended up being most of the rain we got last winter, with just over an inch more before summer came. When the rain did come last winter, it came with a vengeance, in the form of an atmospheric river that dumped more than a foot of rain on us in roughly 48 hours on January 27th and 28th. We shared a piece on our social media in mid-January that I found really dramatic: a photo taken from the same spot on the same day in 2022 (exceptionally green) and 2021 (entirely brown): We saw a punishingly dry early winter that left things in late January looking more like we'd expect in November than in March. Our rainfall distribution is such that in the winter, we're a rain forest climate, while in the summer, we're a desert (climate graph from the site, on which I spend probably more time than is healthy):Īs you can see, the calendar year ends just as the water year is really getting going. In a place like California where nearly all our annual precipitation comes in the winter, the break between one calendar year and the next is not a meaningful way of looking at current conditions. The secret to making sense of this is understanding the difference between the calendar year and the water year. So why are climatologists and reporters so downbeat about our current totals? Downtown Los Angeles saw 14.27' of rain, which was 98% of their 60-year average. The city of Paso Robles recorded 16.75', about 119% of their 75-year average. And yet, here at Tablas Creek, 2021 finished with above-average rainfall at nearly 30 inches.Īlthough we do get more rainfall than most of the Central Coast, we're not alone in having 2021 be an above-average rainfall year. The last week has seen headlines that feel like flashbacks to 2015 or 2016, including Brush fires rage in Southern California amid record heat, worsening drought (Washington Post), California’s Drought-Relief Dreams Are Quickly Drying Up (Bloomberg), and As drought continues, Southern California offers millions to buy Sacramento Valley water (Sacramento Bee). The Associated Press contributed to this report.After our lovely, wet December, the last six weeks have been almost completely dry.

'But I know this for certain, if we don't act, there's going to be way more that do die and it will be a catastrophe for our county.' 'We won't know until the snow melts how many cattle have died due to these conditions,' Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal said in a statement. The hay is being paid for by the ranchers, who provide information on how many head of cattle need to be fed and where they were expected to be located. Requests for help came from about 30 ranchers, according to Diana Totten, an area fire chief. Coast Guard helicopters began dropping hay bales to cattle in remote mountain fields last weekend and then the California National Guard was called in to expand the effort. On the state's far north coast, Humboldt County authorities have organized an emergency response to feed starving cattle stranded by snow.Ĭal Fire and U.S. 'The spillway has been reconstructed to modern standards, and we're very confident that it will be able to pass the flows that are coming into Lake Oroville,' he said. Ted Craddock, deputy director of the State Water Project, expressed confidence in the 1960s-era Oroville Dam, where thousands of people had to evacuate in 2017 after heavy runoff collapsed the main spillway and the emergency spillway began to erode. The heaviest downpours were expected to last into early Friday, followed by lesser precipitation. Rain spread across the north by early afternoon Thursday. The request for Direct Federal Assistance includes generators, road clearance equipment and potential sheltering and mass care assistance.įorecasters warned that widespread heavy rain would raise the threat of flooding in a state still digging out from earlier storms. The emergency declaration enables impacted counties to immediately access Direct Federal Assistance to help protect public safety and property. 'In these dangerous and challenging conditions, it is crucial that Californians remain vigilant and follow all guidance from local emergency responders.' 'California is deploying every tool we have to protect communities from the relentless and deadly storms battering our state,' Newsom said in a statement.

Gavin Newsom's formal request for a presidential emergency declaration to authorize federal assistance supporting the response to the severe storms impacting the state. As a new series of atmospheric rivers continued to flow into California on Friday, President Joe Biden approved Gov.

Sacramento rain totals for today