Ever since a monster El Nino was detected in the Pacific last year, Californians have been anxiously waiting for it to dump torrents of rain on the drought-scarred land. Now, after weeks of frustration, it appears that those expectations will be met.
March, the tail end of California’s traditional wet season, is shaping up to be a soaker. A shift in atmospheric patterns is sending high pressure into the eastern U.S., raising temperatures there while opening the door to an El Nino-fueled train of large, wet storms in the West. While the downpours are unlikely to end California’s drought, they’re poised to push reservoirs higher.
“It has the potential to turn the season around pretty dramatically,” said Rob Hartman, hydrologist in charge at the California Nevada River Forecast Center in Sacramento.
U.S. seven-day precipitation outlook as of March 2, 2016. Source: NOAA
U.S. seven-day precipitation outlook as of March 2, 2016. Source: NOAA
The largest agricultural economy in the U.S., and the home of the most food-processing plants, California is in its fifth year of drought. Nearly all of it is abnormally dry or in some stage of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor in Lincoln, Nebraska. Forecast models showing rain- and snow-makers lining up through mid-March come on the heels of a bone-dry February. The state could have one of its “wettest March patterns on record,” said Matt Rogers, president of Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland. “The action starts this weekend.”

Rain Outlook

Nearly 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain are forecast to fall across Northern California through March 9, according to the U.S. Weather Prediction Center. The heavy precipitation will extend all the way up the coast through Oregon and Washington to Vancouver Island in British Columbia.