Drought Expanding Across Southern California

news image
Top Stories
15 Mar 2018 7:36 PM
Even with recent rainfall, long-term statistics show that southern California continues to experience an expansion of drought conditions. In fact parts of the region are currently under what's deemed as "extreme drought." The drought monitor released Thursday, March 15. The data for this is valid through Tuesday, March 13. Drought data looks longer-term and in this case, all the way back to October 1, 2017. The data is collected from October 1 until now to gather a summary of this area's "wet season." Typically, southern California receives most of its annual precipitation during the months of December, January, and February. But when we look at the stats from October, it tells a dry story. The columns on the left hand side above show the observed precipitation since October 1, compared to the average amount of precipitation during that time on the right. As you can see, the three locations selected are all running at around 15-30 percent of "normal." These average numbers are based on data collected between 1981-2010, commonly referred to as the climate period. If the dry trend continues, we will have to worry about water levels and fire concerns heading into the summer/fall months. That's when it's typically much drier (on average) for this area. Right now southern California is getting appreciable moisture. We have written extensively about the wet weather in the West with Meteorologist Matt Monroe. Just give this sentence a click or tap. When we look longer-term through the end of the month, the weather pattern favors wetter weather to continue, which in the short-term can help catch rain deficits up. The chances of higher than average precipitation (greens) versus lower than average precipitation (browns) from Wednesday to Sunday, March 21-25. The chances of higher than average precipitation (greens) versus lower than average precipitation (browns) from Friday to Thursday, March 23-29. Looking even deeper into the future for April, May, and June, the pattern unfortunately looks drier for California compared to average. Meteorologist Mace Michaels wrote extensively about that earlier and you can see his story here. For WeatherNation, Meteorologist Steve Glazier
All Weather News
More
Severe Thunderstorms Expected Across The South Friday

Severe Thunderstorms Expected Across The South Friday

A frontal boundary stretched across half of t

2 May 2025 12:40 PM
Big Pattern Shake Up for the West Upcoming

Big Pattern Shake Up for the West Upcoming

A huge digging upper level low is heading fro

2 May 2025 11:55 AM
Rainy Forecast Could Disrupt Kentucky Derby Week Events

Rainy Forecast Could Disrupt Kentucky Derby Week Events

Louisville is gearing up for the 151st Kentuc

2 May 2025 11:30 AM
Flooding Threat Continues in Oklahoma Friday Morning

Flooding Threat Continues in Oklahoma Friday Morning

The forecast remains wet in the southern plai

2 May 2025 3:00 AM
Storms Back in the Ohio Valley and Northeast Tonight

Storms Back in the Ohio Valley and Northeast Tonight

OHIO VALLEY - After a very stormy and wet mon

2 May 2025 2:50 AM
Rain For Denver, Snow For The Mountains

Rain For Denver, Snow For The Mountains

A cold front and area of low pressure slide t

1 May 2025 12:25 AM
Rain This Week Douses Fire Concerns Today

Rain This Week Douses Fire Concerns Today

Fire weather concerns have been all too commo

29 Apr 2025 6:40 PM