California Headed for Driest Year on Record

With less than two months to go in 2013, California is looking at its driest year on record.  San Francisco, used as the benchmark because it has the longest consecutive rainfall in the state, received no rain in October and only 3.95 inches of precipitation since January.  This is the lowest amount since record keeping began 164 years ago, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“Generally speaking, it has been dry across the state, and it has been remarkably dry where the population centers are and where the bulk of the water storage is,” Arthur Hinojosa, chief of hydrology and flood operations for the California Department of Water Resources, told the Chronicle.  “Most operators plan on multiyear dry years, but nobody plans on as dry as we’ve seen.”

California Headed for Driest Year on Record