Drought Status Returns to California for First Time in 2024

Cattle graze amid drought conditions near Ojai, Calif., on June 21, 2022. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Drought-free since earlier this year, California has now recorded its first dry spot in Northern California on the Oregon border.

Siskiyou County reported moderate drought in its northern region, according to the latest drought monitor map released on July 11 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Climate Prediction Center.

“It was a hot and dry week over the region with only some spotty precipitation in areas of California,” a drought map summary states. “Abnormally dry conditions were expanded over a large area of northern California, western Nevada, and Oregon as well as in central Idaho.”

A map shows California’s drought conditions on July 9, 2024. Courtesy of the U.S. Drought Monitor

The update showed that about 20 percent of the county is in “moderate drought” and nearly 78 percent is considered “abnormally dry.”

The last time Siskiyou County reported any level of drought was in May 2023. It had previously recorded drought conditions since February 2020.

Statewide, the last time any sizable drought was reported was last summer. In 2022, California was almost in 100 percent moderate-to-exceptional drought.

Much of the state was also currently reported to be about 12 degrees to 15 degrees above normal temperatures, according to the climate prediction center.

Wildfires

Drought conditions have further complicated efforts to battle the four wildfires that have erupted in Siskiyou County since the start of July.

The largest, the Shelly Fire, has grown to 14,309 acres and is only 6 percent contained since it started on July 3 in the Marble Mountain Wilderness near Shelly Lake and the Pacific Crest Trail.

“Due to hot dry weather and difficult access, the fire has grown and now threatens communities, private timberlands, cultural resources and wilderness areas,” Cal Fire said in a statement on July 15.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.