No drought or dry areas anywhere in SLO County, latest map shows
If you had any doubt about just how robust and precise the parade of atmospheric rivers have been in California, look no further than the latest map from the U.S. Drought Monitor.
The entire midsection of the state is not only completely free of drought, it’s void of even any abnormally dry areas, which is the lowest designation on the map.
Instead, a white swath cuts across the state, with the remaining drought areas pushed to the north and south, as if someone scoured it clean with a fire hose, which is pretty much what happened from at atmospheric perspective.
San Luis Obispo County, with its coastal location on the leading edge of all the storms, is one of several that have received so much rain, they have no dry or drought designations whatsoever, even in the air eastern region around the Carrizo Plain.
SLO County rain totals far above normal for year
The various rainfall-monitoring stations around SLO County show that everywhere is well above average on their season totals to date, ranging from San Simeon at 133% to Rocky Butte at 224%. Also above the 200% mark are the Lopez Dam at 216%, Salinas Dam at Santa Margarita Lake at 208% and Upper Lopez Lake at 204%.
Lopez Lake is the third county reservoir expected to spill and could do so this in a matter of days. It stood at 95.7% capacity as of Monday morning, with a new storm arriving on Tuesday.
Here are the latest season-to-date rain totals, according to the SLO County Public Works Department:
This story was originally published March 20, 2023 at 10:38 AM.
