Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Think El Niño guarantees heavy rain in California? Not always.
This winter started off very wet, but the rain suddenly stopped, leaving us with near-average totals instead of what could have been a much wetter season.
Looking ahead, early signs point toward another El Niño winter, but history tells us that even strong El Niño events don’t always deliver big rain. While years like 1982-83 and 1997-98 brought major storms, 2015-16 told a very different story.
Meteorologist Kris Kuyper explains what went wrong in the past, and why it could happen again.
Think El Niño guarantees heavy rain in California? Not always.
This winter started off very wet, but the rain suddenly stopped, leaving us with near-average totals instead of what could have been a much wetter season.
Looking ahead, early signs point toward another El Niño winter, but history tells us that even strong El Niño events don’t always deliver big rain. While years like 1982-83 and 1997-98 brought major storms, 2015-16 told a very different story.
Meteorologist Kris Kuyper explains what went wrong in the past, and why it could happen again.
