18 Trillion Gallons of Water Have Rained on California this Month

A view of the high water levels on the Feather River

Since the month of February began, the rain in California has been nonstop. In just the past two weeks, the barrage of precipitation that has fallen from the sky has significantly increased snowpack and reservoir water levels, while also causing floods and mudslides.

Anyone who doesn’t live in a cave knows the water has been heavy and constant this month, but the National Weather Service put the amount of water that has fallen on California in perspective:

Q: How much water has fallen in California so far this month?

A: Given the ~6.38″ spatial mean observed precip across the state with an area of 163,696 sq mi…

~18 trillion gallons of water =
~27 million Olympic-sized pools =
~45% the total volume of Lake Tahoe.

Now that’s A LOT of water. Most of Lassen County and some of Tehama County have already received over 100 percent of their annual precipitation for the water year. San Francisco and Sacramento have currently seen 75 percent of their normal precipitation for the water year.

Although another two-day storm is expected to hit NorCal this week, the rest of February is forecast for mostly clear skies, giving some reprieve to the constant precipitation we’ve seen this much. But guess what? A new storm will hit March 1.

Will this crazy winter ever end?

Active NorCal

Telling the Stories of Northern California

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