Is the California Drought Over? Despite Recent Storms, It’s Still Ongoing

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While many US states are bearing the brunt of climate change, California has faced a wide range of extreme weather conditions. First, a mega drought caused a major water shortage and the declaration of a nationwide climate emergency. Much of it was then inundated by atmospheric river storms and torrential rains.

So does this mean the water levels have finally balanced out? Is the California drought over?

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“California, along with other states in the western US, is suffering from a long drought that has dried up its wells and drained its water reservoirs. In 2022, the state experienced its third year of drought heaviest and driest in history,” Nadine. The BBC’s Yusif writes. “Yet less than a year later, it is seeing its wettest two-week period.”

“The weather has proved dangerous and deadly, but it has also brought a small respite from the severe drought conditions,” she continued. “Nonetheless, experts say California will need much more water to reverse its drought conditions as the state must make do with the scant rainfall it has seen in recent years.”

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Is the California drought over?

In some parts of the state, water experts have seen the recovery of lakes, rivers and ponds, thanks to an influx of rain in late 2022 early 2023. However, the drought is not over.

According to CNN, the state will need sustained rainfall for many years to fully recover from the megadrought. And because of global warming, the atmosphere is evaporating water at a faster rate—therefore, the state needs more precipitation than it consumes to stay balanced.

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“This will really help a lot with the short-term drought in Northern California, maybe even wipe out the short-term drought conditions, but it will take a lot more to completely avoid the long-term, multi-year impacts of the drought.” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, told CNN. “In a warming climate, the severity of droughts in places like the Southwest and California is being driven by increased evaporative demand.”

“Basically, the atmosphere is demanding more water as temperatures rise, so you’d actually need more precipitation than before to balance that out,” he continued, “and we’re not necessarily seeing more precipitation than before . “

And because so much rain has fallen in such a short time, communities have been flooded, faced with landslides and more. Therefore, this is not an ideal situation.

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Why is California always in a drought?

You may have noticed that this all comes as part of a trend – California is constantly in the middle of a drought, and there’s a reason for that.

Because most of California is mostly desert, it is constantly in a “dry season.” Most of the moisture comes in the fall and winter, and things really start to dry out in the spring and summer. But with global warming, the dry season is getting much longer and its “wet season” has practically disappeared.

And what’s worse, is the ongoing droughts that cause wildfires across the country.

Due to California’s mega Drought, the growing dry season coupled with Santa Ana winds and careless campers leaving campfires unattended, wildfires are becoming more common. And it’s only going to get worse.