2015 Rainfall Not Living Up to El Nino Hopes

SAN RAMON, CA - The amount of rain in the Bay Area during the last half of 2015 is less than in previous El Nino years, National Weather Service officials said Saturday.

The amount of rain that has fallen from July 1 to Dec. 5 is inches less in many cities across the region, according to NWS officials. The lack of rain makes it less likely this year’s El Nino will alleviate California’s drought, NWS officials said.

The North Bay has been especially dry, NWS officials said. Kentfield received 2.55 inches of rain in the last half of this year, compared with 18.53 inches in 1997 and 23.69 inches in 1982, according to NWS officials.

Napa received 2.33 inches, compared with 10.52 inches in 1997 and 13.07 in 1982, NWS officials said.

Oakland received 1.45 inches, as recorded at the Oakland Museum of California, compared with 9.66 inches in 1997, according to NWS officials.

The differences south of San Francisco are not as much, NWS data showed. The Salinas airport reported 3.23 inches, compared with 5.54 inches in 1997 and 7.40 in 1982, according to the NWS data. King City reported 2.04 inches, compared with 5.69 inches in 1997 and 4.18 in 1982, NWS data showed.

Weekend Rainfall

Some parts of the Bay Area received more than two inches of rain while others saw a fraction of an inch between Saturday and Sunday evenings, National Weather Service officials said.

The unincorporated Sonoma County community of Venado, seven miles north northwest of Guerneville, received 2.96 inches, according to data released at 6:24 p.m. A gauge three miles west northwest of Guerneville collected 2.31 inches and a gauge in the unincorporated community of Rio Nido recorded 2 inches, NWS officials said.

One gauge in Marin County collected 1.36 inches, while in Napa County, Mt. Saint Helena received three quarters of an inch and Calistoga received about a half an inch, according to NWS officials. Three locations in Oakland received about a tenth of an inch, NWS officials said. Ocean Beach in San Francisco received about a tenth of an inch and other places in the City received about half an inch, according to NWS officials.

Day Valley, an unincorporated community in Santa Cruz County, received nearly nine tenths of an inch, NWS officials said. Other gauges in the county recorded less than a tenth of an inch, according to NWS officials. Only Orinda, near the San Pablo Reservoir, received more than a tenth of an inch, at .11 inches, while all other places in the county reported less than a tenth of an inch of rain, NWS data show.

NWS officials said not all of the data released is official.

--Bay City News