Driest January In Years Leaves California Wondering If Drought Will Be Worse In 2015
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — It's been a year since the reality of California's drought hit hard with an abnormally dry January wrapping up.
2014 also saw a series of devastating wildfires, water restrictions and billions lost in the farming industry.
Although this year's wet season started out great with a strong December, there has been even less rain this January—typically the wettest month—than there was last year.
At Land Park Ski and Sport, sales have slowed during a soon-to-be-record dry January. In fact, repairs to skis damaged from barren terrain have kept Neil Meyers busy.
"Kinda bummer how things are turning out right now, but we're always praying for more," he said.
With no January rain or snow for most spots, there is real worry that the drought will once again take center stage.
The impacts are hard to forget, with the colossal King Fire scorching nearly 100,000 acres of forest only a year removed from the Rim Fire that devastated a larger portion near Yosemite National Park.
Farm fields died and thousands lost jobs, costing the state billions in agricultural revenue, and state leaders called on everyone to cut back on water use.
Jeanine Jones with California Department of Water Resources says the big storms in December were warm and didn't bring much-needed high Sierra snow. And what snow did appear up there is melting during the warm winter.
"Conditions are frankly not looking good because of the low snowpack," she said. "The good news however is that we are, pitiful as it may seem, ahead of where we were last year at this time."
Jones says it's too early to tell if we will need the same water restrictions as last year.
Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant says there have already been 60 wildfires in the state this month, a similar start to what we saw last year.
"We are hoping for more rain, the next couple of months. If that doesn't happen, we're going to have to begin staffing up much earlier than normal," he said. "When we see a lot of rain in December and no rain in January, it's not able to soak in into the trees and into the brush."
And if the dry trend drags on, it will once again be the perfect setup for large wildfires capable of ruining lives and land.
