Most of California is set to end January on a dry note.
Neither Northern nor Southern California is in for much more to close out 2022’s first month. Although forecasts earlier this week projected a chance of rain at the end of January, updated models aren't anticipating any rain in the Bay Area and beyond as the calendar turns to February.
The National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center's forecast projects little, if any, rain touching California through the middle of next week. Slight precipitation is only expected in the state’s northwest corner and between Sacramento and Reno, Nevada.
Following a wet December, nearly two-thirds of the state is experiencing severe drought (66.4%) and only 1.4% of the state is experiencing exceptional or extreme drought, according to federal data. But a continued lack of precipitation could exacerbate drought conditions across the state.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Western Regional Climate Center’s data through Tuesday showed that the vast majority of California had experienced fewer than 50% of average precipitation through January. Most of the Bay Area and parts of Southern California received at least two fewer inches of precipitation than normal.
California’s 2021 water year, running from Oct. 1, 2020 until Sept. 30, 2021, was the second driest on record, according to the California Department of Water Resources. The Bay Area and parts of Southern California have, so far, experienced average to above-average precipitation during this water year, thanks to a series of storms in October and December.
But based on the latest forecasts, don't expect another one at the start of February.
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