Climate change warms the atmosphere, raising baseline temperatures and making heat-trapping weather patterns more intense and longer-lasting. As a result, we see more frequent and more severe heat waves<\/a>.<\/p>\n This unseasonable March streak of scorching heat is not only notable in its intensity, but also in its duration and its scale.<\/p>\n \u201cIt extends from Southern California all the way to the Great Plains and from Canada to Mexico,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m struggling to find the right superlative, because it is that extreme.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s also paving the way for the state to head back into drought conditions. <\/p>\n In January, California achieved zero areas of abnormal dryness for the first time in 25 years<\/a> thanks to a deluge of winter storms, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor<\/a>. But now, just over two months later, abnormal dryness has returned to areas of Northern California.<\/p>\n A pedestrian crosses Spring Street in Chinatown during a heavy downpour on Feb. 19.<\/p>\n (Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Without a dramatic increase in precipitation, Northern California was on track to reenter drought conditions by spring, said Swain.<\/p>\n \u201cThis March is exactly what you wouldn\u2019t want to see if you wanted to maintain that drought-free status,\u201d he said. \u201cA record-shatteringly warm month, and a very dry one at that, is certainly going to push us back in the other direction.\u201d<\/p>\n A possible upcoming drought will look different from the long-lasting drought California saw from 2012 to 2016 and 2020 to 2023 \u2014 which prompted various water use restrictions \u2014 because there is still a significant amount of rain in the state\u2019s reservoirs following a very wet winter.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good news about California water infrastructure is it really does take a multiyear drought of significant severity to seriously threaten the actual water supply,\u201d said Swain.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, a sustained period of dryness can still cause damage to California\u2019s agricultural industry and elevate the risk of wildfires. <\/p>\n This weather whiplash from intense rain to extreme heat can be hard for residents to wrap their heads around \u2014 but is exactly what scientists expect to see more of in Southern California as climate change worsens.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes folks will say, well, no, you\u2019ve got to pick one. It can\u2019t be both getting wetter and drier,\u201d said Swain, \u201cand that\u2019s actually not how the atmosphere operates.\u201d<\/p>\n More rain and more dryness are \u201ctwo sides of the same thermodynamic coin,\u201d he explained. This is because a warmer atmosphere pulls more moisture out of soils and plants, deepening droughts. At the same time, a warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor, which is then released in fewer, more extreme rainstorms.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774031168_443_.jpeg\")
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