Another dry January? Winter’s wettest month failing to measure up

Santa Rosa is on track to post a third straight abnormally dry January, historically the wettest month of the year, as California’s drought moves into its fourth year.

A light sprinkle Friday dropped 0.07 of an inch on Santa Rosa and brought the month’s total precipitation to 0.08 of an inch, with 0.10 to 0.20 of an inch more expected over the weekend, Accuweather meteorologist Ken Clark said.

If the forecast holds up, Santa Rosa would avoid breaking the rain-poor record of 0.10 of an inch set in 2014, on the heels of a meager 1.16 inches in January 2013.

But with no rain in next week’s forecast and a chance of some showers the following week, hopes for putting a dent in the drought now shift to February, Clark said. Water storage in the state’s major reservoirs and the Sierra Nevada snowpack are far below average.

Asked what’s in store for February, Clark said it “depends on whom you ask.”

“The rest of the winter,” he said, “is iffy.”

Santa Rosa typically gets 7.05 inches of rain in January and 6.4 inches in February.

The city’s last significant rain was about one-third of an inch on Dec. 20, and December overall delivered a welcome 14.49 inches, more than double the month’s 7.03-inch average. Since Dec. 21, Santa Rosa’s rainfall is about 2 percent of normal, Clark said.