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Though 2016-17 turned out to be a wet winter, university and industry experts urge ranchers to continue to plan for drought in how they manage their pastures and feed. Knowing when to water and which animals to give the highest-quality supplemental feed could help cow-calf operations through the next drought, University of California Cooperative Extension advisers say. Such measures may include irrigating pasture with limited water in the spring, when the crop demand is greater, rather than the fall, said Larry Forero, a UCCE adviser based in Redding.

 

Atmospheric rivers are California’s drought-busters. As we saw in the recent series of storms between January 7 and 10, a single wet weekend can dramatically reverse the state’s water accounts. The state still hasn’t completely pulled out of the drought. But just a few days after those storms, the California Department of Water Resources increased its water delivery forecast for 2017 from 45 percent to 60 percent for water agencies that rely on the State Water Project.

“Full moon, clear sky, no wind, and snow on the mountains,” Chris MacArthur, Riverside councilman explained was a terrifying sight for California citrus growers in a phone interview. The threat of frost is with growers every winter. But this winter has seen many wet nights turning MacArthur groves in the Green Zone into a “muddy mess.”

The Bay Area is about to turn the page on the wettest January in 20 years, which begs the question: How much rain will February bring? The answer won’t come for another four weeks, but the Bay Area is expected to begin February with another storm system which could drop as much as 3 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Rain is expected to move into the region late Wednesday, with the heaviest downpours expected Thursday, according to Bob Benjamin, a forecaster with the weather service.