Drought in California, May 1 to 31, 2015

Name: Drought in California, May 1 to 31, 2015
Start: 2015-05-01T00:00
End: 2015-05-31T23:59
Location: California

May 1 to 31, 2015 · NWS HNX · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

The California drought continued in full force during the month of May, 2015. Temperatures continued to average above normal.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

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 HNX wrote it up.

The California drought continued in full force during the month of May, 2015. Temperatures continued to average above normal. While there was some precipitation in May, it was not uniformly distributed. Fresno received 0.57 inches of rain (133% of normal) while Bakersfield received 0.68 inches (377% of normal). Overall, seasonal rainfall amounts continued to be only 35-65 percent of normal across central California.

The U.S. Drought Monitor continued to report exceptional drought conditions across 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). For the calendar year, 2014 was the warmest year on record for Fresno and Bakersfield. The trend of below normal precipitation and above normal temperatures has continued through the first few months of 2015.

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.

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 Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 30, 3:05 PM PST, 8 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 3:05 PM PST, 8 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
405 PM PDT THU APR 30 2015

.UPDATE...UPDATED AIR QUALITY ISSUES SECTION.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
DRY WEATHER AND ABOVE NORMAL AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES CAN BE EXPECTED
OVER THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK.
SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE SIERRA NEVADA THIS EVENING...THEN
EXPECT SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SIERRA EACH
AFTERNOON AND EVENING STARTING FRIDAY.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
EPAC REX BLOCK PATTERN SETTING UP ONCE AGAIN WITH STORM TRACK
SHUNTED WELL TO THE NORTH. SUB TROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE ACROSS
THE AREA WITH PLENTY OF HIGH CLOUDS. NAM12 IS PAINTING QUITE A BIT
OF QPF ACROSS THE SIERRA THIS AFTERNOON. AS OF 1 PM PDT WE ARE
ONLY SEE A FEW WEAK BUILDUPS. WE HAVE KEPT IN SHOWERS FOR THIS
AFTERNOON HOWEVER SHOULD QUICKLY DIE OFF AROUND SUNSET. NMM IS
MORE REALISTIC WITH QPF AND CONVECTIVE PARAMETERS BASED ON CURRENT
TRENDS AND OBSERVATIONS WHICH IS LOWER THAN THE NAM12. CONVECTION
WILL BE LIMITED TO THE CREST.

TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WELL ABOVE NORMAL ACROSS THE CENTRAL CA
INTERIOR THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. THE WEAK CLOSED LOW COMPLEX
WILL GET BETTER ORGANIZED AND MOVE INLAND INTO SOCAL BY MONDAY
WITH BETTER CHANCES OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE HIGH
SIERRA. THE LOW MOVES INLAND INTO AZ TUESDAY WITH WEAK RIDGING
BEHIND IT AND PREDOMINATELY NW FLOW WITH A WEAK SHORT WAVE TROUGH
PUSHING THROUGH ON TUESDAY EVENING THAT WILL BRING IN COOLER TEMPS
AND MARINE AIR THROUGH THE PACHECO PASS AND INTO LOS BANOS AND
WESTERN MERCED COUNTY. COOLING WILL CONTINUE ON WED AS THE TROUGH
DIGS OVER THE AREA WITH CONTINUED MARINE COOLED AIR PUSHING TEMPS
BACK DOWN TOWARDS NORMAL, BUT NOT QUITE GETTING THERE. THE ECM IS
FAVORED IN THE LONG TERM WITH THE NMM FAVORITED IN THE SHORT
TERM

&&

.AVIATION...
SHOWERS WILL BE POSSIBLE THRU AROUND 03Z FRIDAY OVER THE SIERRA
NEVADA. OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
NONE.

&&

.CERTAINTY...

THE LEVEL OF CERTAINTY FOR DAYS 1 AND 2 IS HIGH.
THE LEVEL OF CERTAINTY FOR DAYS 3 THROUGH 7 IS HIGH.

THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED AS PART OF A TRIAL PROJECT CONDUCTED
BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD.
CERTAINTY LEVELS INCLUDE LOW...MEDIUM...AND HIGH. PLEASE VISIT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HNX/CERTAINTY.PHP /ALL LOWER CASE/ FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND/OR TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK.

&&

.CLIMATE...
             RECORDS
SITE DATE    HI_MAX:YEAR LO_MAX:YEAR HI_MIN:YEAR LO_MIN:YEAR

KFAT 04-30      100:1981     52:1915     64:2013     37:1951
KFAT 05-01      101:1947     57:1955     62:2014     38:1899
KFAT 05-02      101:1947     59:1938     64:1947     40:1964

KBFL 04-30      101:1981     55:1955     68:1981     38:1915
KBFL 05-01      102:1947     55:1915     67:1981     37:1988
KBFL 05-02      101:1947     65:1921     67:1909     38:1915
&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

PUBLIC...JDB
AVN/FW...BSO
SYNOPSIS...BSO

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

11 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, W Central S.J. Valley

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: W Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, E Central S.J. Valley

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Sw S.J. Valley

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Se S.J. Valley

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, S Sierra Foothills

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Foothills forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Tulare Cty Foothills

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Foothills forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Kern Cty Mtns

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, S Sierra Mtns

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: S Sierra Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Tulare Cty Mtns

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Tulare Cty Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Indian Wells Vly

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Indian Wells Vly forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Drought, Se Kern Cty Desert

When: May 1, 12:00 AM PST to May 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Se Kern Cty Desert forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager

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, May 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: 572925, 572926, 572927, 572928, 572929, 572930, 572931, 572932, 572933, 572934, 572935.