Rainy season was driest ever, in Bay Area and across state
California and the Bay Area experienced the driest rainy season on record, with average statewide precipitation reaching 126year lows, according to Golden Gate Weather Services, a meteorological consulting firm.
The Bay Area got only 9.88 inches of rain this season, 39% of its normal amount of 25.28 inches, Golden Gate Weather Services said. That’s the least ever, going back to 1895.
California got 11.46 inches, or 49% of its normal 23.61 inches. That’s also the least ever.
The lack of rain helped land most of the Bay Area in the worst drought category — called “exceptional” — according to the U.S. Drought monitor, prompting municipalities across the region to adopt mandatory water restrictions. The drought’s effects have been particularly painful for agricultural operations.
Other regions of California that recorded their lowest seasonal rainfall totals were the Sacramento Basin, the Tulare Basin, the central Sierra and the Colorado River area, ac
cording to the private meteorological service.
The Colorado River area, located in the southeast corner of California, got 1.32 inches — 26% of its normal 5.12 inches..
In the Bay Area, the seasonal figure eclipsed the previous record for dryness set in 197576, when rainfall was 41% of normal.
The rainfall season, which ended June 30, was “dismally dry,” said meteorologist Jan Null, and is part of a more widespread trend. In particular the 3year and 4year season totals for the Sacramento Basin, which includes the western Sierra and is the source of most Bay Area water, were “most troubling,” Null said.
The years of low rainfall were similar to what California went through in the mid1970s, Null said.
The dearth of water will have its greatest effect on agriculture, which accounts for 80% of water use in the state. Household use makes up only 10% of water usage, he said.