Timing can be everything, and even though Reno saw almost a half inch of rain this week, we still fell short of average for the water year at the end of September. The water year goes from October 1st through September 30th, and this year Reno got nearly six and a half inches of water. The value includes both rain and melted snow. The 30 year average at the Reno Airport is 7.35 inches.
We did slightly better last year, but still came up with a deficit. Over the past ten years Reno has had some really good water years and pretty dry years. The wettest water year on record was back in 2016-2017 when Reno saw 15.95 inches over the course of 12 months. 2022-2023 was a good water year for us as well, and takes second place for most on record. The year before that was the third driest on record with just over three inches falling at the Reno Airport between October and September.
According to the US Drought Monitor, Reno is abnormally dry, with a severe to extreme drought for parts of eastern Nevada. Good news though, Reno got .40” of rain between Thursday and Friday morning, which is just a tenth of an inch behind normal for the month of October.
