Over the past two weeks, the Bay Area has seen powerful storms take over. A series of storms had knocked out power for more than 400,000 people, threatening mudslides and ordering evacuations. Evacuation orders took place in parts of Santa Cruz and Monterey. In addition, more than 8 million people were under flood alerts and there was a high alert in the Bay Area last Wednesday. On January 18, there were winds more than 90mph from Sacramento to the Bay Area. Bay Area cities received one to three inches of rain.
“Fall and winter have been very dry. The three-month period from October to December was the ninth driest going back to 1895,” said Chris Orrock, a spokesman for the state Department of Water Resources. California was in need of rain and the Bay Area is facing its third driest period since 1849.
A couple days later, parts of the Bay Area received about a tenth of an inch of rain by 9 in the morning. According to NWS Bay Area, there was another rainfall on Sunday and Monday, and there was a chance of atmospheric rivers arriving later on. The rainfall deficits across Northern California for the past 19-months continued to grow, having the top 10 driest on record. Cities such as San Francisco and San Jose are tied for the third driest city to experience less rain.Furthermore, the Sierra Nevada has seen heavy snow. The Tahoe Basin had received more than five feet of snow. The Sierra snowpack is considered California’s most reliable water sources. The mountains also rely on the rivers for watering crops and filling water glasses. “The recent atmospheric river provided a significant amount of precipitation to many areas of the state and contributed to the growth of the seasonal snowpack,” said Mike Anderson, California’s state climatologist.