Forecasters say chances of above-average rainfall in November in northern California are about 30 percent. But the odds for below average are the same.
October was close to average for precipitation in Northern California - about three-inches - based on numbers from weather monitoring stations.
But Michelle Mead with the National Weather Service in Sacramento describes average as "good, but not great."
"We would like to see above-average numbers to help us more with the drought," she says.
Mead says the odds for precipitation in November for central and northern California are 33 percent above average, 33 percent at average and 33 percent below average.
She says even above-average amounts won't end the drought.
"So not only would we need average precip but we would need another three-quarters of that which is about 165 percent of normal, just to break even from the last three years. And that wouldn't necessarily end the drought either," she says.
Mead says seasonal and monthly weather outlooks are harder to predict, but typical winter storms are forecast about five-to-ten days out.
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