The good news is that over the last two weeks of December into the first week of January, Northern California, where I live, had a lot of rain. The state received more precipitation in the final few months of 2021 than in the previous 12 months, according to National Weather Service. We desperately needed it, as we’ve been in a severe drought for the past few years.
In fact, 2021 was one of the driest years in recent memory, but the state got off to a notably wet start in 2022. At the driest point of this drought in late October, almost 50% of California was at the Exceptional drought level.
That said, we haven’t had any measurable rain over the past week and there’s little to no rain in the forecast through the rest of this month. So even though we received significant amounts of rain, and the central Sierra Nevada mountains got record levels of snow, Northern California’s drought is far from over. And there is less than three months left of the “rainy” season.
In a clear sign that the drought persists, California recently adopted new emergency regulations aimed at stopping residents from wasting the state’s precious water.
We are without a rainy day in sight and now there are residential water restrictions in place with violation fines of up to $500 a day. Well damn, so much for my newly landscaped, beautifully idyllic backyard.
Written for Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, where we are asked to write about the first thing that comes to mind when we think of the phrase “a rainy day.”
This, That, and the Other 
It is a worrying situation! Pray for rain.
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Just last week our map looked so much more encouraging! And there’s snowpack in the mountains now too. I don’t get it…
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I know. But even with the rain and the snowpack in the Sierras, if we don’t get a lot more in the next three months, we won’t be out of the woods.
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I am forever thankful for our usual abundance of rain. I hope your rain chances improve before the rainy season ends. We live on forest edge so we are never concerned with a traditional lawn or garden.
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I just heard that a Tsunami advisory in effect for U.S. West Coast after volcanic eruption in the nation of Tonga.
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Yes, but only about 1-3 feet, so no biggie.
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The rainstorm we had was glorious . But we all know it wasn’t by any means an end to our drought. We have restrictions on watering which i am happy to obey. There is nothing more frustrating to me than seeing water going down the curb because of someones reckless over watering.
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I’m in Nor Cal too but I’m don’t feel confident that we’re out of the woods. No more lush landscaping for me.
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Exactly. A lot of my plants and bushes are dying. 😞
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You might end up doing what we do with buckets in the shower, washing dishes in a plastic bowl and taking the water out to the grass, same with water used for cooking (after it’s cooled, of course, I don’t want to kill the garden), using a glass or cup for the purpose of brushing teeth, etc.
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Hmm. Something to think about. Thanks, Cage!
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As long as you don’t get to the stage of toilets having a sign: If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down!
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Confession: I flush every other time if it’s just “yellow.”
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I really hope you see some steady rain soon. Drought is dangerous.
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Thanks. We really need a good week of steady rain.
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I think, unfortunately, Australia is just in a continuous draught at the moment =/
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Sorry to hear that. I feel your pain.
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And here is Australia we’re having floods in bushfire season ☹️
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Not good!
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See if you could just have a way to haul away at least half of our foot of snow we got this weekend… maybe that would help. Hang in there!
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