Orange County Remains In Moderate Drought, NWS Says.
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — What a difference a few months make.
In September of 2016, the start of the water year, the National Weather Service said that the majority of California was in moderate to exceptional drought conditions.
Orange County, at that time, was listed from intensity ranging from Extreme Drought to Exceptional Drought.
Five months later, after one of the rainiest winters on record, the new drought monitor was released.
"With the recent heavy rains, Orange County remains classified in Moderate Drought," the NWS said.
Most of Riverside and San Diego counties were downgraded from Moderate Drought to Abnormally Dry, a substantial difference.
According to rainfall totals from the National Weather Service, a few notable totals in Orange County included Santa Ana, with just less than 16 inches of rain, and Fullerton, with just more than 16 inches of rain, both hovering at 159 percent of normal.
Anaheim, not far away, has received rainfall totaling 21.5-inches, hovering at 216 percent of normal.
"It has been a very wet rainy season in Southern California so far, with many stations receiving more than 150% of their normal precipitation through the end of February for the current ‘water year,’" The National Weather service reported.