Fresno hasn’t been this dry in 50 years. ‘Miracle March’ storms would be needed to catch up
Fresno had one of its driest Februaries on record.
The central San Joaquin Valley city received 0.29 inches of rain last month. The last time February rainfall was that low in Fresno was 50 years ago, in 1971, said meteorologist Jim Dudley with the National Weather Service at Hanford.
That 0.29 ranks as Fresno’s 17th driest February ever since 1881, the earliest weather data NWS has for the city.
Farther south, both Hanford and Bakersfield experienced their fourth driest Februaries ever, Dudley said. Hanford had 0.02 inches of precipitation that month.
Precipitation is also below average in Fresno for the water year, which starts Oct. 1. Fresno received 5.11 inches of rain since then – about 2.5 inches less than a normal water-year total for this time, 7.69 inches.
Dudley said some people hope for “miracle March” events that can make up for precipitation deficits, but there’s nothing in the weather forecast now showing that will happen this year. Fresno could get some light rain Saturday, but it isn’t likely the city will get precipitation from a Wednesday storm expected to move through Southern California.
This has been a La Niña weather year, Dudley said, which has meant drier conditions in the West and colder-than-normal conditions in places like Texas. That’s connected to a ridge of high pressure over the West, and then deep “troughs” in that pressure further east.
“We’re all tied together in the same atmosphere here,” Dudley said, “and there’s only so much rain to go around. ... If it’s extra cold in Texas, it’s extra warm somewhere else.”
There was a large fire in Fresno County on Saturday at an almond hull processor. Losses are expected in the millions of dollars.
The precipitation deficit isn’t as large in Fresno for the calendar year. There’s been 3.69 inches of rain in Fresno in 2021, Dudley said, which is about half an inch behind a normal 4.22-inch total for the calendar year at this time.
Most of the rain the region received this year was from one extra wet storm in January that caused widespread damage in the Sierra Nevada and foothills.
“Outside of that one event,” Dudley said, “we’re in bad shape.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 2:00 PM.
