How dry will it be in California in 2012?

According to NOAA, La Niña is beginning to fade away in the Pacific, but it's probably too late to expect much precip this year.

La Niña-like impacts are expected to persist into the upcoming season.

For those of us who like rain, snow, and water, this is not great news. So far this year has been pretty dry, although not an all-time low by any means. Here's a plot for snow in the Northern Sierra, courtesy of the state's Department of Water Resources.

So it's going to be a dry year. But as water expert On the Public Record points out, it could have been a lot worse — were it not for a bizarrely wet December last year, we could have been in the fifth year of a drought.