--- title: Rainfall Forecast in California Won't Stop Drought description: Parts of California could receive more rain this week than they've gotten cumulatively over the past eight months. But the state needs much more canonical: https://time.com/9690/california-rainfall-wont-end-drought/ author: Bryan Walsh article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-02-24T17:00:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:29:09.788Z article:section: Science og:title: Rainfall Forecast in California Won't Stop Drought og:description: Parts of California could receive more rain this week than they've gotten cumulatively over the past eight months. But the state needs much more og:url: https://time.com/9690/california-rainfall-wont-end-drought/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rainfall Forecast in California Won't Stop Drought twitter:description: Parts of California could receive more rain this week than they've gotten cumulatively over the past eight months. But the state needs much more twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # California Is Finally Set to Get Rain, But It Won't Quench the Drought  by [Bryan Walsh](/author/bryan-walsh/)  ## Bryan Walsh Feb 24, 2014 5:00 PM CUT  by [Bryan Walsh](/author/bryan-walsh/)  ## Bryan Walsh Feb 24, 2014 5:00 PM CUT How [extreme is the drought](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/opinion/egan-days-of-desiccation.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") in California? Right now the federal government [says that](http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA "undefined") every square mile of California is in some state of drought—and 14.62% of the state, concentrated in central California’s agricultural heartland, is in the most extreme state of exceptional drought. Rainfall in some of the most populated parts of the state have been all but nonexistent—since July 1, San Francisco [has experienced](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rainstorm-los-angeles-wettest-2-years-20140223,0,4826440.story#axzz2uFbe7Ni8 "undefined") just 5.85 inches of rain, about 35% of what’s normal, and Los Angeles has received just 1.2 inches of rain, less than 10% of the average over the same period of time. Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada basin—the water bank for much of California—is less than half below average. By every count, California is in the grip of a truly historic drought that will cost the state and the country [billions of dollars](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-h-gleick/the-costs-of-californias%5Fb%5F4747043.html "undefined"). But there’s no better signal of how severe this year’s drought is than the fact that even a heavy rainstorm will barely make a dent in the big dry. The National Weather Service (NWS) [projects](http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/national%5Fforecast/natfcst.php?day=3 "undefined") that this week a pair of Pacific storms are expected to bring as much as 2 in. of rain to the coast, and several feet of snow to the Sierra Nevadas. The second state in particular is expected drench virtually all of California for 24 hours, as Jim Bagnall, a meteorologist with the NWS, [told the Associated Press:](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/drought-stricken-california-to-see-some-rain-snow/ "undefined") --- > “” --- Still, despite the fact that Los Angeles could receive more rain this week than it has in nearly eight months _cumulatively_, the drought will be far from over. Even with the storm, much of California will still be below average for precipitation this month. Since February tends to be the wettest month for California, that means that the state still has a larger and larger rainfall deficit to make up if this drought is to ever end. The good news is that chances of an El Niño event this summer—which could bring heavier rainfall—[are rising](http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis%5Fmonitoring/lanina/enso%5Fevolution-status-fcsts-web.pdf "undefined"). But at this point it might take [divine intervention](http://www.wunderground.com/news/california-bishops-pray-rain-20140108 "undefined") to irrigate the Golden State. **(MORE:** [**5 W**](http://science.time.com/2014/01/31/california-drought-5-way-to-bust/ "undefined")[**ays to Bust California’s Drought**](http://science.time.com/2014/01/31/california-drought-5-way-to-bust/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/9690/california-rainfall-wont-end-drought/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/9690/california-rainfall-wont-end-drought/"},"headline":"California Is Finally Set to Get Rain, But It Won't Quench the Drought","datePublished":"2014-02-24T17:00:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:29:09.788Z","description":"Parts of California could receive more rain this week than they've gotten cumulatively over the past eight months. 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