Rare April rain, potential thunderstorms headed to the Bay Area this week
However, after this week’s storm, it’s uncertain when the next shot of rain will arrive. High pressure is expected to build up again this weekend, bringing sunny weather and temperatures into the 70s.
Atmospheric river storms back in October and December raised hopes of easing the drought, but January, February and March were the driest three months of any year in Northern California history since 1849, when weather records began. The statewide Sierra Nevada snowpack, which fulfills about 30% of the state’s water needs, was at 168% of normal on New Year’s Day but had dwindled to 30% Tuesday, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
The storm, the fourth wet weather system since April 11, is unusual for this time of year, Peterson said. Between Jan. 1 and April 10, many locations were running at about five to 10% of historic averages but have since increased to 15 to 20% of normal. “This is a La Niña year and a lot of times, there’s a hiatus in the rain but this year’s hiatus was very long and protracted. Many locations didn’t pick up rain for over 50 days,” Peterson said. “This is atypical in that we had such a dry stretch and we’re transitioning into a wetter-than-normal April. It’s quite likely after this storm moves through that many locations will receive more rain in April than we saw in January, February and March combined and that in itself is quite rare.
The U.S. Drought Monitor reported last week that about 96% of California is in “severe drought,” an increase from 87% from the beginning of March, while about 47% of the state is in “extreme drought,” up from 13%. Extreme drought has spread to the North Coast and all nine Bay Area counties are currently in a severe drought.
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