Drought in California, October 1 to 31, 2014

The California drought continued in full force during the month of October, 2014. Exceptional drought was detected by the U.S. Drought Monitor for almost the entire Central California region. This extent of exceptional drought is extremely unusual for California. The 2013-2014 water year (July 1 - June 30) concluded with Fresno setting its second driest on record (4.81 inches) and Bakersfield setting its third driest (2.41 inches).

There continues to be significant media coverage on the on-going drought conditions. These reports include discussion of significant re-allocation of water resources from the east to west side of the San Joaquin Valley, farmers forgoing planting of some crops, a decrease in the snow-related tourism activity in the Southern Sierra Nevada, reduction in air quality due to persistent stagnant air, loss or reduction of ground water, wells drying up in several communities leaving them with no water, and an unprecedented increase in fire danger across the Southern Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains. For the first time on record, red flag warnings were issued in January for not only the Southern Sierra Nevada and the Tehachapi Mountains but also the south end of the San Joaquin Valley.