Drought in California, March 1 to 31, 2015

Name: Drought in California, March 1 to 31, 2015
Start: 2015-03-01T00:00
End: 2015-03-31T23:59
Location: California

March 1 to 31, 2015 · NWS STO · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

An extremely dry March followed a below normal February for most areas. This continued the 4th consecutive year of drought for the region.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS STO wrote it up.

An extremely dry March followed a below normal February for most areas. This continued the 4th consecutive year of drought for the region. Mountain snowfall was very limited for the month. This along with record warmth over the area resulted in the lowest snow pack levels on record for the time of year. By the end of March, the snow pack was only about 5 percent of normal levels. Melting snow pack supplies about a third of the annual water supply for California. Reservoirs across the area by the end of March were already well below normal levels.

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.

Voluntary water conservation efforts reduced water usage by 3.6 percent statewide compared to March 2014. Governor Brown ordered mandatory restrictions of 25 percent 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.

What forecasters said that day

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 Feb 28, 9:55 PM PST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 28, 9:55 PM PST, 2 hours 5 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
955 PM PST Sat Feb 28 2015

.Synopsis...
Showers dissipate tonight and Sunday. Then a second wave of wet
weather arrives Monday.

&&

.Discussion...
Strong cyclonic flow will continue over the Srn portion of our CWA
as upper low center continues off the Santa Barbara coast through
Sun. Radar continues to show a band of showers moving SWwd across
Wrn NV and into our CWA where downslope flow eventually erodes them
in the foothills. High resolution QPFs indicate the precip band will
be diminishing over the Siernev south of the Tahoe area tonite and
will let advsry expire. However...this pattern will continue on Sun
although QPFs will be lighter than today. On Sunday shower chances
will mainly be over the mountains with the valley likely staying dry
other than a stray shower chance over the Northern San Joaquin
Valley.

Over the Nrn portion of the CWA...the flow is transitioning to
anticyclonic and subsidence will be eroding clouds there. N to NE
pressure gradients will be increasing slightly overnite...leading to
katabatic wind effects over our Nrn zones.   JHM

.Previous Discussion...
Another system dropping down from the north on Monday will bring
more shower and thunderstorm chances to the interior on Monday.
Snow levels look to be between 4000 and 5000 feet with this
storm but may be down to near 3000 feet over parts of Shasta
County Monday morning. This low will be centered further west and
out over the ocean than this current low pressure area. While it
looks weaker at this time we will have to monitor its progression
since there could be that possibility that some additional
moisture could get sucked into the low and alter the current
forecast.

&&

.Extended Discussion (Wednesday through Saturday)

Medium range models showing dry weather through the extended
forecast period as upper ridging off the West Coast builds inland
over NorCal Thursday then into the Great Basin by Saturday. High
temperatures in the Central Valley expected in the upper 60s to
lower 70s with mostly 50s to 60s for the mountains and foothills.

&&

.Aviation...

Upr low ovr Intr NorCal movs S into SoCal Sun. Mnly VFR exc lcl
MVFR/IFR poss in snow shwrs over Siernev til arnd 09z. Sn lvls
arnd 035 to 045.

&&

.STO Watches/Warnings/Advisories...none.

&&

Event by event

8 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Motherlode/Camptonville to Groveland

When: March 1, 12:00 AM PST to March 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Motherlode/Camptonville to Groveland forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Impacts to the region for March included conservation efforts within most foothill communities. Increased water conservation measures were passed by the state to increase reductions further by limiting water use for lawn watering and added incentives to limit water use in hotels and restaurants There was a continued reduction of ground water resources which are being used to replace diminished reservoir water. Agricultural impacts included orchard reduction, limits on planting and increased costs due to reliance on groundwater. Sutter County alone has lost an estimated 1100 agriculture related jobs. The Lake Don Pedro Community (La Grange and Coulterville) adopted mandatory water conservation measures and water use restrictions effective March 9th due to the drought emergency and severe lack of water supply in Lake McClure, which is expected to go dry this summer.

Drought, Northern San Joaquin Valley

When: March 1, 12:00 AM PST to March 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Northern San Joaquin Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Newspaper

The drought is strongly impacting the northern San Joaquin Valley, with farmers reducing acres planted and removing some trees from orchards. Agricultural jobs and businesses related to agriculture have lost jobs. Air quality has suffered, with particulate levels at the highest levels in a decade for some locations.

Drought, Southern Sacramento Valley

When: March 1, 12:00 AM PST to March 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Southern Sacramento Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Newspaper

The drought is impacting 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. Agricultural jobs and related businesses have lost jobs. Air quality has suffered, with particulate levels at the highest levels in a decade for some locations.

Drought, Northern Sacramento Valley

When: March 1, 12:00 AM PST to March 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Northern Sacramento Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Newspaper

The drought is impacting the northern Sacramento Valley, with farmers reducing acres planted and removing some trees from orchards. Agricultural jobs and related businesses have lost jobs. Air quality has suffered, with particulate levels at the highest levels in a decade for some locations.

Drought, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada

When: March 1, 12:00 AM PST to March 24, 11:59 PM PST
Where: West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada forecast zone
Reported by: Newspaper

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 and shut down in March.

Drought, Central Sacramento Valley

When: March 1, 12:00 AM PST to March 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Central Sacramento Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Newspaper

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. Agricultural jobs and related businesses have lost jobs. Air quality has suffered, with particulate levels at the highest levels in a decade for some locations.

Drought, Mountains Southwest Shasta County to Northern Lake County

When: March 1, 12:00 AM PST to March 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Mountains Southwest Shasta County to Northern Lake County forecast zone
Reported by: Newspaper

The drought is impacting Lake County, with farmers clipping some wine grape vines, reducing irrigation needed this summer, while reducing their harvest. Agricultural jobs and related businesses have lost jobs.

Drought, Clear Lake/Southern Lake County

When: March 1, 12:00 AM PST to March 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Clear Lake/Southern Lake County forecast zone
Reported by: Newspaper

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2015 Every state in 2015 This day in weather history Warnings in California, March 2015

Sources

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: 568057, 568064, 568065, 568184, 568185, 568186, 568188, 568189.