NWS: December the second driest on record for Salinas

Wednesday’s rain is welcomed in Salinas after a dry December. According to the National Weather Service Monterey, Salinas would normally see 2 1/3 inches of rain in December, but last month, only .03″ were reported.

“That put it the second driest on record dating back to around 1930,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with NWS.

The dry weather wasn’t surprising to meteorologists at the National Weather Service. They say we are experiencing a La Niña event – cooler waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean that can mean dry stretches during the rainy season.

“Sometimes it’s January, sometimes it’s even February but it’s not completely out of the question to have a dry period throughout the wet season,” Gass said.

A dry December could put us behind for the rest of the season.

The California Drought Monitor shows “abnormally dry conditions” in southern Monterey and San Benito Counties and the rest of Southern California.

Ian Jennings’ family has ties to the agriculture industry. He knows the weather can impact crops.

“Whenever the rain starts and it drops in temperature, the plants go into their winter cycle. The next week it warms up again and they go ‘Oh, it’s spring’ and it drops again,” Jennings said.

But he and meteorologists hope they can make up the deficit between now and the rest of the rainy season.

“We could still have a wet January, February even March, so, we’re holding out hope for the rest of the season to turn out decent,” Gass said.

Right now California reservoirs are looking good in terms of levels, thanks to the last two years of wet winters.