If you're wondering about the extent of the very heavy precipitation reflected in the eight-station index, well, so were we. Models show a chance for three weakish storms to hit Northern California over the next 10 days, and the region has a shot at more rain and snow through at least the end of May. But with the prospect of more rain on the way, the index is certain to keep rising.
PRECIPITATION TOTALS SACRAMENTO SERIES
"So it’s just a truly impressive winter to wade through."Īsked whether he was hoping to see the 1982-83 record broken, Anderson didn't hesitate.Īnd as the latest in a series of spring storms swept across Northern California overnight, the index hit 89.7 on Thursday morning, establishing a new record. "An average water year is 50 inches and in those three months we got 56 inches," Mike Anderson, California's state climatologist," told KQED's Craig Miller. Until now, the "Godzilla El Niño" year of 1982-83 had stood as the Northern Sierra's wettest season on record, with an index of 88.5.īy Wednesday, the 2016-17 index, boosted by the epic deluges of December, January and February, had reached 88.2. Individual station data are for April 13, 2017. The eight stations and their approximate daily precipitation totals - in some cases, the index uses gauges whose readings are not online or are not up to date - are below. The index itself is the average of the total precipitation for the current water year recorded at the eight stations.
Those basins are the source of most of the water captured by the Central Valley Project and State Water Project and are key to the state's annual water supply. The eight sites the Department of Water Resources uses in its Northern Sierra eight-station index are scattered across the Sacramento, Feather and American river watersheds (see sidebar). The index, which goes back to 1921, covers the rainy season from Oct. Those watersheds feed about half of California's largest reservoirs and are key to the state's annual water supply. The index is an average of the total precipitation - both rain and snow - recorded at mostly high-elevation sites scattered across the Sacramento, Feather and American river basins. On Thursday, the state Department of Water Resources announced that its Northern Sierra Eight-Station Index had surpassed its previous record. In one very important part of the state, the answer is a definite "yes."