Is this Fresno storm a drought buster for Valley, mountains? Here’s what experts say
While this week’s winter storm in central California is certainly welcome, it’s just a typical winter storm and won’t be a drought buster, according to state water officials and meteorologists.
Since California and the San Joaquin Valley have had a few dry years in terms of the water year, the current storm does have a few benefits to the region, said Jeanine Jones, interstate water resources manager for the California Department of Water Resources.
First, this storm is colder than the last big storm at the end of October, so it will be good for the Sierra snowpack, she said. This storm also will cover a larger swath of the state than the last one, so southern California will see more precipitation this time around.
“This would basically be a normal winter storm,” she said. “Although certainly much welcome, it is not by itself a drought buster, by any means.”
Because the October storm was warmer, reservoirs in the region saw an immediate increase. The storm will benefit the snowpack this time, and reservoirs won’t see runoff until late spring, Jones said.
Brian Ochs, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford, said the storm would be good for drought conditions in the short term. However, the outlook for the rest of the wet year through April still remains below-average precipitation.
To stay on pace with the average snow and rain totals, the region needs to see several more storms like this one, both Jones and Ochs said.
“We’re just now entering our really wet period of the winter season. One or two storms this early in the season is certainly not definitive,” Jones said. “So don’t get too excited about this storm. We need to have more of these going forward.”
For this time of year, Fresno’s average rain total is about 2 inches. This year, Fresno has seen about 1.98 inches of rain, Ochs said.
Fresno could see about 1-1.5 inches of rain. Further north, Merced could receive up to 2 inches of rain. Foothill areas such as Oakhurst and Mariposa could receive up to 5 inches of rain.
In areas around 5,000 feet in the mountains, the storm will likely produce a couple of feet of snow. In the highest elevations of the mountains, the storm will drop anywhere from 5-8 feet of snow.
“It’s a lot for a single storm,” Ochs said.
A last note about the winter storm and snow: the ski resorts will be happy, Jones said.
“They’ll finally have something they can work with.”