The month of steady storms made up for a slow start to the water year, delivering more than 6 feet of snow to the Sierra, where ski resorts had delayed openings for weeks. The region’s snowpack jumped 600% in the last week of December, bringing Northern California’s levels to about 75% of the annual norm.
That’s dropped to about 40% in the last few weeks of dry weather, according to California Department of Water Resources’ snow surveys.
Throughout the stop-and-start, the Bay Area’s rainfall totals have also leveled out. San Francisco is at 96% of its annual average, while Petaluma in Sonoma County is around 85%, according to National Weather Service data.
Still, Behringer said, “as long as we don’t stay dry for too long, we are still okay.”
“It can be kind of typical for us to have a midseason lull,” he said. “It’s hard to say how much longer it’s going to last. There’s still a good chance we could pick up for the rest of the season.”
He said there’s still a good amount of uncertainty regarding any storms on the forecast so far out, but rain is expected over the weekend, and again beginning Feb. 8.
Behringer said weeks of dry weather can raise fire risk, since some of the lighter fuels like brush and grass have started to dry out. But in terms of water supply, most of California’s reservoirs remain unseasonably high: Santa Barbara County’s Cachuma reservoir is at 150% of its historic average as of Sunday, and Shasta Lake, the state’s largest reservoir, is at 125%.
