Another straight week of rain inbound

For the third week in a row, San Francisco will close in on more rain, as forecasts predict several more storms brewing over the next few days, though in smaller amounts than the two previous outings.

The National Weather Service [NWS] forecasts a 50 percent chance of rain as early as Monday night, with those odds jumping up to 70 percent Tuesday and early Wednesday, dropping to 40 percent by Wednesday night.

“New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch” during the heaviest of it, according to the forecast. There’s also “a chance of rain” Saturday and Sunday.

The Weather Channel disagrees, marking Tuesday as the only day with better-than-even odds of rainfall in the city this week—that forecast predicts a 70 percent chance of rain Tuesday, but only 40 percent for the rest of the week.

The extended Weather Channel forecast also suggests that more storms may blow in next week, starting as early as Monday, December 10.

Historically speaking, December has seen as much as 11.7 inches of rain (2014) over the past 15 years, but also as little as 0.14 inches (2011).

Last December was the fourth driest on record going back to 1849, according to Golden Gate Weather Services, at just 0.15 inch all month.

Drought conditions across the state are steady, but only incrementally worse despite recent rains, according to the most recent map released by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

As of last week, 88.3 percent of California faces at least “moderate” drought (including the entire Bay Area), up from more than 73 percent the previous week and just 8.24 percent year over year.

However, the percentage of the state suffering from “severe drought” is down a few points since summer, presently sitting at 18.33 percent. Those areas are concentrated in the southern and northernmost extremities of the state.

Image via U.S. Drought Monitor