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Drought Restrictions Ending Across Bay Area

First came a dozen soaking atmospheric river storms. Then a huge Sierra Nevada snowpack, which on Monday was 248% of normal. Now comes drought relief.

Water agencies across the Bay Area are moving to roll back mandatory drought rules and surcharges as reservoirs have filled this winter and drought conditions have washed away.

’We’re Looking Really, Really Good’: Bay Area Water Agencies End Water Restrictions, Drought Surcharges

Nothing says the end of drought like ending water restrictions — and the pesky drought surcharges on utility bills.

On the heels of California’s remarkably wet winter, the Bay Area’s biggest water agencies, including the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and East Bay Municipal Utility District, have either rescinded their drought policies or are about to do so.

Near Miss; Atmospheric River Shifts Toward Southern California

After weeks of atmospheric rivers slamming into Northern California, triggering flooding and landslides, the jet stream has shifted the latest blast of subtropical moisture toward Southern California, forecasters said.

But it won’t be a complete miss on Tuesday. The northern edge of the river will bring moderate rain to parts of the Bay Area and 2 inches or more to the waterlogged Santa Cruz Mountains and the flooded communities in Monterey County.

Atmospheric River-fueled Storm Arrives in California. Here’s Which Areas Will Be in the Bull’s-Eye

California is once again bearing the brunt of inclement weather, as a low-pressure system off the coast rapidly intensifies and becomes a storm, tapping into another atmospheric river that’s flowing between Hawaii and California.

The storm that started Monday night is forecast to raise powerful winds along the coast that will spread to all corners of the Bay Area, Central Coast and Central Valley and peak just before sunrise on Tuesday. These winds will ferry heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and the risk for more flooding across most of the California coast and eventually Southern California.

Atmospheric River Storm This Week Will Bring Heavy Rain, Raise Flood Concerns With Huge Sierra Nevada Snowpack

The winter of 2023 isn’t finished yet. Not by a long shot.

An atmospheric river storm is likely to hit Northern California late Thursday into Friday, meteorologists and climate scientists said Monday, bringing high chances of heavy rain in the Bay Area, 1 to 3 feet of new snow at higher elevations in the Sierra, and an increased risk of flooding as the warm rain hits the state’s massive snowpack.

California Could Get Hit With New Atmospheric River This Week, and Consequences Could Be Concerning

Northern California could be in for a new atmospheric river storm by the end of the week, potentially blasting the Bay Area with substantial rain, and the Sierra with even more heavy snow, but likely not as fierce as the wet storms that wreaked damage across the region at the start of the year, forecasters say.

Winter Storms Will Batter California With Snow, Strong Winds and Lightning. Here’s Full Outlook

A series of winter storms will work together to usher in some of the coldest and windiest conditions of the season across California. These winds will be accompanied by waves of atmospheric moisture that will crash into Northern California from Wednesday to Friday morning.

Widespread rain showers will impact most of the Bay Area on Wednesday through Friday, while periods of snow showers will be possible farther inland — including the Sierra Nevada and some foothills near the coast. These winter storms will also hoist thunderstorms onto the coastline, raising the chances for small hail and ice pellets in areas along Highways 101 and 1.

Bay Area Likely to See Snow on the Hills This Week From Unusual Winter Storm, Forecasters Say

When Bay Area residents wake up later this week and get a look outside, they might wonder if they’ve been transported many degrees north, with snow from an unusually cold and windy winter storm possibly carpeting the region’s major peaks and even reaching hills as low as 1,000 feet.

Why Forecasts for La Niña Turned Out to Be All Wet

The new year started off with a parade of storms, leading to San Francisco and the wider Bay Area seeing one of its rainiest time frames since the Gold Rush era. This onslaught of storms seemed a bit out of place with the trend of La Niña, an outlook that traditionally brings warm, dry conditions to most of California. Instead, the first half of the 2022-23 winter season was marked by atmospheric river-enhanced storms and notable reductions in drought conditions across the state. And chances persist for some rain showers to hit California in the coming days to weeks.

California Weather Forecasters Bolstered by Airborne Researchers Diving Into Atmospheric Rivers

As the parade of storms hitting California leaves behind widespread damage and impacts, scientists are literally diving into these atmospheric river events to better predict and understand what’s coming on the horizon.

Flying over the Pacific Ocean on specially-equipped aircraft, the “hurricane hunters” of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration play a huge role in helping communities determine the severity of atmospheric river storms.