While weather in the east and south grabs media headlines, it is more of the same, except worse, out west

Western Washington is “well-known” for its “mild” and “wet” winters, and if you don’t particularly like rain any time (let alone all of the time), those are true statements. The area isn’t actually the wettest region in the country, but the constant presence of gray cloud cover makes it seem like it is. Of course, most people here would gladly accept a little more rain if it means little or no snowfall; however, what is usually the wettest months of the year—November, December and January—have seen well below normal precipitation. After a torrential streak in September, which saw a record 6.17 inches of rain from the normal 1.50, it seemed only fair that October would be off somewhat—1.54 inches, 1.94 below normal. But it has only continued to be unusually dryer than usual:

November: Normal 6.57 inches, 2013 3.79

December: Normal 5.35 inches, 2013 1.66

January: Normal 5.57 inches, 2014 3.70

Thus in the last four months precipitation has been just a shade over 50 percent of normal, and that hurts more than just the ski business. However, in most of California this amount of rainfall would be the occasion for rejoicing. Everywhere in the state this past year has seen record low precipitation, part of an ongoing trend of dryness. 3.65 inches of rainfall was recorded in Los Angeles in 2013, where the average is about 13 inches. In San Francisco, less than 3.4 inches fell, down from an average of 20.65 inches. In unincorporated Kentfield in the north Bay area, the average rainfall in a year is 48 inches; in 2013, less than 8 inches fell, barely a third of the previous record low. Snowpack on the mountains have shriveled to the point where they are barely visible on satellite imagery, resulting in almost every reservoir in the state being below 50 percent of normal capacity, and valleys that normally show up green on satellite are now mostly appear brown. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that the amount of precipitation that fell in California 2013 was the lowest since recordings first began over a century ago. And if January is any indication, the coming year may be even worse—even for a state that seems to have another drought every ten years. The cause of these conditions seems to be that a high pressure “ridge” that normally forms off the Pacific Northwest is for some reason stronger than is normal, and has not permitted moist air to travel south. Presumably the actions of this ridge also accounts for dryer than normal conditions in the Northwest. 

Governor Jerry Brown declared a water “state of emergency” a few weeks ago. With all the attention to the harsh weather conditions in the east and south—where the appearance of just an inch of snow can cause a “state of emergency"—in California at least we are reminded that humans are composed of 60 percent water, and sometimes it is too convenient to forget that.