LAKE COUNTY >> A welcome period of rain is forecast for most of this week throughout the county, according to the National Weather Service.
Showers are expected to begin on Tuesday. Rain is predicted to continue, on and off, through Saturday, though the amounts may not be enough to dent drought conditions.
“It should be dry through the evening,” weather service Meteorologist Courtney Obergfell said. “We have a system coming in Wednesday that should bring approximately one-tenth of an inch in the valley and a quarter to a half inch in higher elevations.”
A second system will follow immediately, bringing with it rain on Thursday and into Friday, Obergfell continued. However, this system is expected to be weak.
Finally, a third storm system is expected to focus the greatest chance of rain on Saturday.
“There are several chances for rain, but they are nothing major,” Obergfell said.
As previously reported, two or three years of regular rainfall would be needed to curtail the effects of the statewide drought in the county.
According to Lake County Special Districts Compliance Coordinator Jan Coppinger, a regular amount of rainfall is between 30 and 40 inches.
On average, the county receives approximately 24.2 inches of rain each year. This figure includes data from dry years.
However, the area has received below average rainfall for the past two years and drought conditions for three.
This year, Lake County has seen approximately 14.3 inches of rain, according to data collected by the Lake County Air Quality Management Department.
Of those 14.3 inches, 0.6 are from this month alone, while a little more than one inch was measured over the course of October. Run-off from the hills, necessary to reverse Clear Lake”s falling levels, will not begin in earnest until at least 6 inches seep into the ground.
February and March have garnered the most rainfall this year, totalling approximately 6.2 and 4.5 inches, respectively.
On the plus side, the amount of rainfall this year is more than double what the county received in 2013. Last year the area measured approximately 6 inches.
In 2012, the county received nearly 30 inches of rain, and 22.5 inches in 2011.
“We collect rainfall as a community benefit, it”s not by state regulations or anything,” Lake County Air Quality Management Director Doug Gearhart said. “It”s information that the public likes to know, and it is easy data to collect.”
Contact J. W. Burch, IV at 900-2022.
