climate in crisis

Climate in Crisis: Less Rain Becoming More Common

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It’s no surprise this rain season was horrible and the numbers in my graphic show this well.

Santa Rosa with the largest deficit -20.42”, Oakland -10.78”, SF -12.14”, Concord -11.76”, and San Jose -7.86”.

This trend of below average rain has not only happened this year, but it’s becoming more and more common.

Follow the green line in the data below. This is our average rainfall and you’ll see more years with below average rain since the 1980s.

In fact, three of the top five driest years happening most recently in 2013, 2015, and 2020. All of this leading to increased drought and fire danger.

With all of that said, there is a bit of good news to share for the start of June. While there’s no rain chances right now there is cooler temperatures on the way that will help a bit with our fire danger.

You’ll see in the next image, three different systems over the next two weeks will be moving over the west. This looks to keep temperatures near to below average and that’s really the best news for the start of June.

The three systems will also develop unusual June rain in the Pacific, but there’s no indication this would move into the Bay Area at this point.

You can find out more about how the Bay Area climate is changing in a series of stories the Microclimate Weather Team worked on across the Bay Area.

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