California water year, page-2

What a difference a year makes.

Twelve months back, the Sierra mountains of California were covered in snow, with the snow-pack at record depths in some areas in the north.

But as shown below, the picture today is a stark contrast.




The light snow-pack we are seeing this year is the result of extremely low precipitation over the past few months. Fresno in central California only saw 12mm of precipitation in the last three months of 2017.

The precipitation so far this month has also been below average: 31 mm, compared to the long term January average of 49 mm. Southern regions of California also saw below average rainfall, although there were higher levels of precipitation in some northern areas.

Remember, most of California's precipitation falls in the first six months of the 'water year' (October 1 to March 31). So even if rainfall over the next two months is above average, that probably won't be enough to make up for the shortfall.

While you can't rule out a deluge hitting California over the next two months (it wouldn't be entirely without historical precedent), at this point it does look as if California is probably slipping back into drought.

The dams are full at the moment, so the dry weather won't be a problem for almond growers this year. But if things are still dry in California a year from now, growers in southern parts of California will start feeling the pinch.