Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Drought Continues in Nevada County

It's still dry.

Despite the fact we're in late fall and approaching winter, the area still suffers from a drought.

According to information from J.W. Teeter, area meteorologist, the normal amount of rainfall for November is 4.61 inches. However, only 1.91 inches of rain was received by the area last month, which translates into a deficit of 2.70 inches.

But November hasn't been the only dry month. In fact, it has been a relatively dry year. Teeter's figures show the normal amount of rainfall for this region for the first 11 months should be 49.06 inches. There has been 33.03 inches fall, which means the area is 16.03 inches below normal.

This also means area creeks and streams, along with ponds, are still drying up.

Teeter said rain fell six days in November, with the largest single amount received being 0.85 of an inch. This occurred on Nov. 1. Between Nov. 7 and Nov. 30 only 0.23 of an inch fell.

The 16 straight days of no rain from Nov. 11 to Nov. 29 is considered most unusual, Teeter said, this is not a record, though, as November 1921 was even worse -- no rain fell at all during that month.

The wettest November on record, though, was 1988, when 13.91 inches of moisture fell from the skies.

There were three watches or warnings issued during November, which is about half the normal amount to be expected for the month.

On Nov. 28, a few snowflakes fell at 1 p.m. Emphasis should be placed on the word few.

According to Teeter, the average temperature for the month was 52.3 degrees, only 0.4 degrees below the normal expected temperature of 52.7.

The lowest temperature recorded during the month was 26 on Nov. 29. There were eight nights with temperatures dipping below the freezing mark of 32 degrees.