Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

County Short Of Rainfall, Again

Two months into the year and already the area is in a deficit situation water-wise.

According to local meteorologist John W. Teeter, the normal amount of rain the area receives in a given February is 4.08 inches. However, 2.27 inches fell, leaving a shortfall of 1.81 inches for the month.

For this time of the year the area should have already received 8.59 inches of rain, but has only seen 4.77 inches fall to earth. This means the area is 3.82 inches behind normal.

It rained only four days during the shortest month of the year, Teeter said, with the largest single day total being one full inch on Feb. 26.

Cale weatherman Davis Benton said the south part of Nevada County received 2.16 inches of rain last month.

He said 1.75 inches of this fell on Feb. 26, making it the highest single day total since April 14, 1999.

February, Teeter said, had no weather watches or warnings posted, which is unusual. A normal February has four watches or warnings.

He said there was heavy thunder two days in the month, with some damage caused by lightning. However, there were no injuries.

"Even with the snowfall in January," Teeter said, "conditions are dry. We have been dropping behind on rainfall since last October.

"Usual rainfall for the first two months is 8.59 inches," he continued. "The actual amount received is only 4.77 inches  a little more than half the usual amount."

February was also a warm month, he said. The highest temperature recorded was 78 degrees on Feb. 26, while the low for the month was 19 on Feb. 1.

The average daily temperature for February, according to Teeter, was 49.3 degrees, 7.4 degrees above the norm of 41.9.

According to Teeter, there was dense early fog the morning of Feb. 10, with southwest winds up to 40 miles per hour recorded on Feb. 15.

Temperatures climbed into the 70s on 12 different days during the month, which is highly unusual.

The highest low recorded in February was 59 on Feb. 24.

As March begins, so does the high winds and erratic weather, Teeter said, adding a warning for people to be alert for rapidly changing weather conditions.

The normal amount of rainfall for a March is 4.80 inches, while the average daily temperature is 55.8 degrees.