It’s been almost a month since the Bay Area’s last atmospheric river and the hope is there will be more rain in the coming weeks, so water restrictions can be eased.
California can hope that’s the fairytale like water story in Marin and Santa Cruz comes true statewide: eased restrictions. The two major atmospheric rivers and some other healthy rains came to the Bay region since October, working wonders for water supplies.
If You’re Headed Up to Tahoe This Week and Dreaming of a White Christmas, Meteorologists Say You’ll Get Your Wish. But It Might Not Be the Smoothest Trip Through the Sierra Nevada.
The Mountains Are Expected to Get Blanketed With Snow From a Series of Storms That Will Bring Rain to the Bay Area, With Donner Pass Seeing Possibly a Total of 80 to 100 Inches of Snow Tuesday Through Saturday, According to the National Weather Service Office in Sacramento.
A one-two punch of storm systems is expected to drape the Bay Area in rainy weather for much of the upcoming week while potentially making holiday travel in the Sierra Nevada mountains “very challenging to impossible,” meteorologists say.
Farmers in the Bay Area were excited that the latest storm brought another round of much-needed rain in the hopes it will bring them closer to the end of what has been a difficult drought.
Many in the agricultural and farming industries of the Santa Clara Valley are relieved the region took in substantial rainfall over the past few days.
A robust atmospheric river storm started to taper off Tuesday morning in the Bay Area after shuttering highways due to flooding and prompting evacuation warnings in areas left scarred by wildfires and susceptible to mudslides and debris flows.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is urging nearly 3 million water customers throughout the Bay Area to cut water usage by 10%, as it declares a water shortage emergency due to the ongoing drought.
“With California still experiencing devastating drought and the uncertainty around this rainy season, we need to make tough decisions that will ensure that our water source continues to be reliable and dependable for the future,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement Tuesday.
You may have seen it on social media or heard it while talking to a friend: This is a La Niña year, so California won’t get any rain this winter and the severe drought is only going to get worse. Right?
Maybe not. Although that’s a common belief, it’s not supported by past history. The reality is that a lot depends on where you live.
Despite recent rain, California is still in the depths of a drought. Conditions have improved, but barely. Most of the state is still in exceptional or extreme drought. In the South Bay, a million residents will soon be hit with the toughest water restrictions of any major urban area in California. Late Wednesday, the state PUC gave final approval to San Jose Water Company’s plan. Approval by state regulators means the call to cut water use is no longer voluntary for South Bay residents.
The rolling hills and ranchlands of eastern Contra Costa County are known for wineries, cattle ranches, wind turbines and growing subdivisions.
But soon they may be known for something else: The biggest new water storage project in the Bay Area in years. And now, amid the current drought, nearly every major water agency in the region wants a piece of it.
Another atmospheric river swept through the Bay Area this week, adding to what has been a wet start to the rainy season.
So how much did the second round of rain add to the state’s water supply?
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
