HEAVY showers were expected in drought-stricken California this past February, but it ended up being the second hottest with an average low temperature of 65.9 degrees.
“Everyone’s been asking, ‘Where’s the rain? Where’s the rain?’” said Matt Mehle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey.
Although the state was forecast to experience intense rainstorms from El Nino, rainfall in Southern California has ceased after a single big storm in early January. Rain that typically comes to California during an El Nino year has stayed toward the Pacific Northwest, SF Gate reported.
“El Nino is here. It is occurring, but unfortunately, the resulting weather pattern is not,” Mehle said, according to SF Gate.
Despite a parched February, El Nino did bring rain and snow to Northern California, and the state is expected to receive some showers in the coming days.
“Given the model consistency and agreement, confidence is quite high that our area will see periods of significant rainfall along with locally strong winds from this upcoming weekend well into next week,” according to the National Weather Service in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Officials hope the showers will increase the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which is a crucial source of water for California.
The drier February ranks as the 37th driest on record in Los Angeles. It comes amid California’s four-year drought, which has cost the state’s agricultural economy an estimated $1.84 billion.
Downtown Los Angeles received only .79 inches of rain last month, falling short of the 3.8 inches it normally collects.
“Typically, from past six strong El Ninos, we have generally seen above normal rainfall. But since October 1 we’ve only seen five inches of rain so far (across Southern California),” said National Weather Service meteorologist Robbie Munroe, according to Reuters. “We were certainly expecting a lot more.”
A wetter-than-average March is expected, but the impact on the drought may be too little too late, according to The Washington Post. Even rainfall in the past few months has not significantly alleviated California’s parched state.
In the Mountain High ski area, located about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, the resort closed on Sunday, Feb. 28, due to warm weather and will not re-open until there is new snowfall.
“Toward the end of the week, we do expect snow to fall at the resort,” Munroe said, according to the LA Times. We’ll see rain and high-mountain snow starting Saturday evening, with snow showers at resort level Sunday and lasting into Monday.”
The severity of California’s drought prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to issue the state’s first mandatory water restrictions last year, requiring cities and communities statewide to reduce water use by a minimum of 25 percent.
