The long term drought continues as April was yet another below normal month for precipitation for much of the area. There was some mountain snowfall, but this did little to improve the snow pack, which remained at the lowest levels on record.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS STO wrote it up.
The long term drought continues as April was yet another below normal month for precipitation for much of the area. There was some mountain snowfall, but this did little to improve the snow pack, which remained at the lowest levels on record. By the end of April, the snow pack was only about 4 percent of normal levels. As a result, reservoirs across the area by the end of April remained well below normal levels with little or no spring rise, due to the lack of snow melt.
Extreme drought was detected by the U.S. Drought Monitor across most the region, with exceptional drought for the northern San Joaquin Valley, the central and southern Sacramento Valley, the Burney Basin and the Sierra south of Interstate 80.| |Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency for the entire state of California January 17, 2014 and this continued to be in effect.
Local Emergency Proclamations have been issued for El Dorado, Glenn, Lake, Plumas, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sutter, Tuolumne, and Yuba counties. The cities of Live Oak Lodi, and Ripon continue in a drought emergency. Drought task forces have been established in Butte, Lake, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tuolumne, and Yolo counties to coordinate response to the drought.
Mandatory water reductions of 25 percent as ordered by Governor Brown were in effect statewide, the first time such mandatory restrictions have been enacted.
Agriculture has been heavily impacted, with numerous farm and farm related jobs lost. Spring planting is being scaled back significantly, with many existing tree crops and vines being removed due to a lack of irrigation water. The state continued to supply food assistance to those impacted. California Disaster Assistance Act money continued to be provided for those who have lost drinking water due to dry wells.
There was a large decrease in the snow-related tourism activity in the mountains due to the lack of snow, with many resorts closing early in the month or having already closed in March.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Sacramento, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 31, 8:21 PM PST, 3 hours 39 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 921 PM PDT Tue Mar 31 2015 .Synopsis... Cooler, but still above normal weather expected this week. Weak weather systems may bring a few showers to the mountains Wednesday and Wednesday night. Windy on Thursday. Another chance of precipitation arrives this weekend. && .Discussion... Clear skies this evening with much cooler temperatures. We still have some colder air filtering into the region this evening that has some local breezy conditions popping up in the valley. The winds will continue out of the northwest to north direction overnight but not as strong as they where earlier in the day. Another shortwave will move through the area on Wednesday but the greatest impact looks to be keeping temperatures cool and breezy conditions over the region. Some showers look possible over the mountain areas late in the day from around Plumas county northward and along the coastal range from around northern Lake County northward. The same general area looks to keep shower threats through the evening hours before any threat diminishes. Snow levels will be lower so some showers down into Chester and will be possible late in the day and evening with a mix of rain and snow down near Quincy for the evening. Winds will likely remain breezy overnight over the far north end of the valley and along parts of the west side of the valley. On Thursday with the system well east of us windy conditions look likely over the valley with possible wind advisories being needed. Northerly wind gusts 30 to 40 mph look likely within the valley and delta. Weak ridging building into the area Thursday night will help to diminish the winds during the evening. The ridging will lead to warmer temperatures for Friday with weaker winds. Another trough setting up in the Gulf of Alaska for this weekend will start to break down the ridge on Friday and reverse the wind flow in the valley. && .Extended Discussion (Saturday through Tuesday) A low pressure system will drop SE from near Alaska into the Pac NW this weekend into early next week. Several waves progged to move along associated trough into NorCal by overnight Saturday into Tuesday. Models in decent agreement but still vary a bit in timing and strength of individual waves as the system rotates inland. Despite differences, increasing confidence for now in at least a few chances for precipitation Sunday into midweek. Because main parent low will remain removed far to the north, best chances will reside across northern mountains and Sierra Nevada with lesser of a chance in the valley. Have raised chances a bit in this time frame. Regardless of precip chances and areal coverage, system will bring cooler temperatures (closer to normal) and increased cloud cover. Cooler nature of system would also bring the potential for snow below pass levels. Will keep on eye on this as system moves closer. CEO && .Aviation... VFR conditions thru the forecast period. Skies will generally remain mostly clear. Local breezy northerly winds with gusts to around 25 kts possible through this evening and becoming more widespread again during the day Wednesday. && .STO Watches/Warnings/Advisories... None. &&
7 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
The drought continued to impact the northern Sacramento Valley, with farmers reducing acres planted and removing some trees from orchards. Agriculture and related businesses have lost jobs. Air quality has suffered, with particulate levels at the highest levels in a decade for some locations.
The drought continues to impact the southern Sacramento Valley, with farmers reducing acres planted and removing some trees from orchards. An example of this is rice acreage, which has been cut back by about 25 percent. Agriculture and related businesses have lost jobs. Air quality has suffered, with particulate levels at the highest levels in a decade for some locations.
The drought is impacting the central Sacramento Valley, with farmers reducing acres planted and removing some trees from orchards. An example of this is rice acreage, which has been cut back by about 25 percent. Agriculture and related businesses have lost jobs. Air quality has suffered, with particulate levels at the highest levels in a decade for some locations.
The drought is strongly impacting the northern San Joaquin Valley, with farmers reducing acres planted and removing some trees from orchards. Agriculture and related businesses have lost jobs. Air quality has suffered, with particulate levels at the highest levels in a decade for some locations.
The drought is impacting Lake County, with farmers clipping some wine grape vines, reducing irrigation needed this summer, while reducing their harvest. Agriculture and related businesses have lost jobs.
The drought continues to impact Lake County, with farmers clipping some wine grape vines, reducing irrigation needed this summer, while reducing their harvest. Agriculture and related businesses have lost jobs.
There was a large decrease in the snow-related tourism activity in the Northern Sierra Nevada due to a well below normal snow pack. Many ski resorts ended their seasons early in April, or had already shut down in March.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 2015
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 568221, 568223, 568225, 568226, 568227, 568229, 568230.