A weather warm up starts Thursday in the Bay Area, exacerbating drought conditions across the interior part of the state. Forecasters expect this trend to continue throughout the summer.
Data from The Eight Station Index in the Northern Sierra shows rainfall totals from October through May at 50% of average, meaning the region has only received only half of what is normally expected during that time frame.
"The Eight Station Index in the Northern Sierra, which is what we look at for water supply for Northern California, had its 3rd driest start to the water year," Courtney Carpenter, National Weather Service Sacramento meteorologist, told KCBS Radio.
As a result, most of Northern California will experience extreme to exceptional drought.
"Typically our snowpack peaks around April 1, however this year it peaked in March and the snow was pretty much gone by June," Carpenter said.
However, droughts can be cyclical in nature. Carpenter cited the 2016 drought which ended with one of the wettest winters on record.
"We sometimes say you can go from drought to flood pretty quickly, especially in Northern California," she explained. "We’ll have to see what the winter brings this year."
Until then, in many places, the water levels will remain inadequate for agriculture, wildlife and urban needs.
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