Past 3 Driest 3 Years On Record For Fresno, CA - Records Began In 1878
Millerton Lake from the Madera County side on Memorial Day weekend 2014.
California got just enough rain to avoid the driest winter in memory, but Fresno still will reach an all-time landmark the worst three-year drought since record-keeping began in 1878. The last three years here have been drier than the Dust Bowl-era years of 1931 to 1934, the previous worst dry spell in the city's records. "The headline for this year really is Fresno's three-year total," said National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Iniguez in Hanford.
The record becomes official at midnight Monday, which is the end of the 2013-14 rainfall season. Rainfall is counted from July 1 through June 30.
The coming winter might be a downer, too, even though the warm water of El Niño is building in the Pacific Ocean. El Niño can mean a wet winter in California, but it does not look strong enough yet to create more than a 50-50 chance of breaking the drought.
With the rainfall season officially ending Monday, Fresno's 4.81-inch total ranks second-driest for a one-season total, behind the 4.43 inches of 1933-34, the National Weather Service said. But Fresno's record three-year run of drought holds relevance well beyond the city limits.
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http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/06/28/4001984/fresnos-driest-3-years-on-record.html?sp=/99/406/263/