Central Valley acquires over four inches of rain in 2017

California has suffered from a severe drought for about six years. It has become so intense that in 2015, Governor Jerry Brown announced California’s first mandatory statewide water restrictions, causing a 25 percent reduction in urban water use. 

The agriculture industry was most affected by this drought, as they use about 80 percent of California’s annual water usage. In 2014, the drought cost the agricultural industry 1.5 billion dollars in lost crops, according to an economic impact study by researchers at the University of California.

This week a year ago, 86 percent of California was in severe drought or worse. Currently, 44 percent of California is still in a drought but has improved from 49 percent a week ago because of the extreme weather the state received.

Recently, a substantial amount of rainwater has poured down into California and has benefited the citizens in many ways. Since the beginning of January, Fresno has received 4.35 inches of rain exceeding the expected average of 1.3 inches. Since Oct. 1, Fresno has gained 8.91 inches which is 4.14 more inches than the average according to a meteorologist William Peterson of the National Weather Service.

“The average rainfall for year for Fresno is 11.5 inches,” Peterson said. “Eleven inches for a whole year is a lot, whereas in other places in the country they get like three or four feet. We also depend on a lot of the snow melt for our water purposes throughout the year.”

One cause of this amount of rain is the atmospheric river originating in the tropical Pacific. It will deliver heavy rain and bring more flooding to low elevations and strong snowfall in the mountains.

This rain is well needed by farmers, for their agriculture, and clears up the air in Fresno. The rain also supplies the people with more drinking water, so they do not need to conserve as much.

The rain can be disastrous as well. The rain has flooded the streets, making it dangerous to drive. The rain has also filled city drainage systems and ponding basins, making them full to the breaking point.

The National Weather Service makes sure to let people know about the upcoming reports and give messages about the current weather. As a meteorologist, Peterson informs others about the California rain and how much is healthy for the Valley.

“Everyone needs rain for drinking purposes, planting purposes, and growing things,” Peterson said. “But the thing is you can’t have too much because then you have flooding. And if you have too little rain then you have harsh conditions, like farmers losing their farms, so we need a good equilibrium of both.”

Kyle Friesen, ‘19, practices baseball during this stormy season. Although the rain is beneficial to him during this time, it also has its drawbacks.

“I really like getting the rain because I like seeing things grow and become greener,” Friesen said. “But the rain can also be bad because we always have to fix the baseball field when it gets all messed up from the rain. A levee broke by my house too so it swamped my backyard.”

The FC soccer teams have been greatly affected this season by the rain. Over five games and multiple practices have been canceled this year due to the rain. Junior Nathan Mount finds it very disappointing to be missing out on a portion of his soccer season due to the excessive precipitation.

“I know the Central Valley needs more rain but I wish it didn’t affect our soccer games,” Mount said. “I love playing soccer and all of this rain is getting our games canceled. I like it better when it doesn’t rain.”

The Central Valley is expecting a break from the rain in this coming week, Jan. 24-29.

To learn more about this week’s Fresno weather schedule, visit the National Weather Service forecasts and the Fresno forecasts.

To read another article, check out: Roy Brown leads by example, pursues academic excellence.

This author can be reached via twitter: @schultz_kamryn and via email: Kamryn Schultz.