Bay Area sees wetter-than-usual December, in good start to water year
If you feel like it has rained more than it usually does in the Bay Area this December, you'd be correct.
How much more, however, does depend on where you live.
First Alert Meteorologist Zoe Mintz said the North Bay has seen the most rain.
"You have really been in on the heaviest rainfall over the last month. Three inches above average for you," she said.
The December rainfall hasn't been quite as substantial elsewhere, though still notable.
"San Francisco is well above average when it comes to our rain – we picked up 4.22 inches, nearly over half an inch of average," Mintz said. "San Jose, even though you didn't see nearly as much as San Francisco and up across the North Bay communities, you saw a little bit over 2 inches. You're still slightly above average for this time of year."
Overall, a good start to the water year, said Professor Jay Lund, the Vice-Director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences.
"For Northern California as a whole, we're about 130% of average. It gets drier the further you move south," he said. "I think we're in good shape, so far. The reservoirs are well above average, almost all of them."
However, he said that can change quickly.
"It's still early days for this water season. It's progressing nicely, but we still have a long way to go," he said.
And with a California climate where extremes are increasingly becoming the norm, it's tough to predict how the next few months may play out.
