This winter’s historic storms have almost all major reservoirs in California sitting at or above total capacity, and even more rain is heading to Southern California this weekend. It’s been a great couple of years for the water supply – but how long will the good times roll?
KNX News Chief Correspondent Charles Feldman asked State Climatologist Michael Anderson.
“That blizzard at the beginning of March really moved the snowpack from below normal, not looking good into, hey, close to average. And then the other storms in March have kind of helped get it to that point as we make our move to April 1 here,” he said. “So, the trick with these then is how much benefit can you extract out of it while at the same time mitigating hazard?”
Beyond the landslides and flooding this year’s storms have already brought, heavy winter rains will increase the risk of wildfires come summertime.. But Anderson said the rain forecasted for Easter weekend will delay that fire risk – at least for a while.
“Down south, a little late-season wetness may not be what's most wanted, but it helps keep that landscape kind of moist and green and slows down that transition into the Golden State, you know, where our landscape turns golden, but also then increases our fire risk,” he said. “So being able to push that fire risk off a bit is really helpful.”
Anderson cautioned that the weather will likely dry up by May. While it might seem like the state’s drought is over, he said California relies on receiving a certain amount of rain year-to-year, and there’s no knowing what the next winter will bring.
“If that next year isn't wet, we slide back into drought fairly easily,” he said.
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UC Irvine Professor David Feldman previously told KNX News there’s more the state could be doing to optimize rainwater capture, but it could be challenging and take time.
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