ACCUWEATHER GLOBAL WEATHER CENTER – AccuWeather reports rain and mountain snow returning to California early this week is a welcome sight but will do little to ease the historic drought gripping the state.
The storm pushed across California through Tuesday night, spreading rain across the state as well as delivering much-needed snow to the Sierra Nevada.
This comes just days after California Gov. Jerry Brown announced the first-ever statewide mandatory water restrictions in an effort to reduce water usage due to the drought.
Unfortunately, an end to those water restrictions will not come with this storm. As AccuWeather.com Western Weather Expert Ken Clark stated, “The rain and snow early this week is too little, too late for any drought relief.”
“With such a severe deficit of rain and snow over the past four years, the amount of rain and snow from this one storm will have virtually no effect on the seriousness of the current drought.”
For much of the winter and early spring, storms have tracked north of California with only a small number of storms tracking far enough south to bring rain to the Golden State. The storm early this week was one of those latter storms.
“For many locations in central and Southern California, this will be the first measurable precipitation they have had since early March,” said AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Michael Doll.
While doing little for drought relief, the rain will bring some short-term benefits, including the snow forecast to fall over the mountains.
“Parts of the northern Sierra Range will likely receive over a foot of snow,” said Doll. “For the ski resorts that are still open, this will offer an opportunity to extend the ski season a while longer.”
Unfortunately, the pattern of wet weather across California is not expected to last for long.
Much of the precipitation associated with the early week storm will depart the region on Wednesday as the storm tracks into the Plains.
This will leave behind dry and sunny weather for Thursday and Friday with dry conditions persisting into the weekend.
Prospects for rain returning this weekend have diminished as latest indications keep the much-needed wet weather offshore.
A look at the drought
The drought in California has been gradually escalating in severity over the last four years and is now at its worst level yet.
“It is no secret that the historic drought continues in California,” said Clark. “For the fourth year in a row, rain and snowfall has been far below normal.”
“At no time has the Sierra snowpack seen so little snow on April 1 as this year,” added Clark.
On April 1, California Gov. Jerry Brown announced the mandatory restrictions in an effort to reduce water usage by 25 percent.
According to a report from the California Department of Water Resources, “Water conservation must become a way of life during the worst drought in most Californians' lifetimes.”
The order is an escalation of Brown's January 2014 request that Californians voluntarily reduce their water usage by 20 percent.
However, this order did leave out one of the most important aspects of the drought: agriculture.
As much as 80 percent of water use in California is used for farming, according to Clark.
This could lead to higher prices at the supermarket to compensate for the higher cost of watering crops across California. A hike in food prices may be felt all across the country since California agriculture produces many of the fruits, vegetables and nuts in the United States.
The latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor classifies nearly the entire state of California is in a drought.
The report, which was released on April 2, 2015, classifies 93 percent of California in a severe drought and 41 percent of California in an exceptional drought, the highest level of drought classification.
The Palmer Index, another way of analyzing drought conditions, also classifies much of the state of being in an extreme drought.
California is not the only state in the West experiencing a drought. The extreme drought conditions over much of California also extend into portions of Nevada and Oregon.
In total, the U.S. Drought Monitor states that more than 52 million people are being affected by drought conditions across the West.
Many more storms are required to put a significant dent in the historic drought.
Unfortunately, the clock is ticking before the dry season settles in across the West.
Brian Lada is a meteorologist for www.AccuWeather.com .
WEATHER: Forecasters say this week's California rain and snow 'too little, too late'
- Brian Lada
- Posted On