Heavy Rain and Flooding Unlikely to Achieve Big Impact on Prolonged Drought in California

Experts said the heavy rain and flooding in California could offer temporary relief from prolonged drought in the region.

Still, the report said it would take more severe wet weather to address the drought problem.

The combination of atmospheric rivers and bomb cyclones helped to unload heavy rain, damaging winds and mountain snow in California, forcing many people to evacuate.

Furthermore, the major storms, packed with moisture, unfolded in California since the first week of the month.

As a result, many residents and motorists were adversely affected.

Flooding risks and flash floods were the main concerns resulting in a life-threatening situation.

Relentless rain in California

(Photo : by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Shasta Lake in Lakehead, California on October 16, 2022

Although rain would benefit drought-stricken California, flooding and mountain snow were extremely dangerous.

In addition, significant travel disruptions also occurred.

According to the National Weather Service's latest advisory, the report said that heavy to excessive rain would unload in California this week.

As a result, the forecast warned that dangerous mountain travel conditions could occur.

NWS also raised concerns over the water rising in rivers and flooding near the coasts.

The CNN reported that thousands of Californians were evacuating, while fatalities reached at least 17.

The report also said that about 100,000 homes in affected communities had no electricity due to damage to downed power lines.

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Drought and heavy rain

Although the rain would signal to alleviate the drought in California, it could not significantly impact drought-stricken areas.

According to the BBC and US Drought Monitor, the relentless storms in California unloading flooding rainfall helped to ease the drought by 7%.

Based on a recent BBC report, the two weeks of relentless rain in California offered a brief relief.

However, it would not be enough to mitigate the prolonged drought.

BBC noted that California is considered in the list of the driest state in the country. The region's extreme and exceptional drought in 2022 recorded one continuity of severe drought.

The drought affected many communities, forcing them to conserve water.

To mitigate the dried and rained reservoirs, lakes and rivers, experts explained that it needed several wet years to catch up with the region's prolonged drought and low rain.

According to The Conservation, Professor Andrew Fisher explained that one storm and one wet year would not address the drought in California.

Fisher, from the University of California, Santa Cruz, of Earth and Planetary Sciences, added that the drought requires methods and several wet years.

Experts added that storms could help ease and replenish drought in California.

First, however, there is a need to revisit the limited reservoir capacity in California.

The BBC reported that some reservoirs could store more water while others could not.

The report emphasized the importance of saving water from small reservoirs, which could be used for drought to dried summers.

The construction of more room for the reservoir could also help more water conservation. However, the report pointed out that it would require more infrastructure and relocation for affected areas or communities.

Meanwhile, the latest NOAA report in 2022 emphasized that about $165 billion in damage was recorded after natural disasters hit the United States.

In addition, human-caused climate change worsened the problem.