For the second straight year, the North State rainy season is off to a dry start. A year ago, the first measurable precipitation wasn’t until November 21st. And, other than one decent system in September, this fall looks about the same. But state climatologist Mike Anderson says, like last season, that doesn’t necessarily mean a drought is on the way….

Last year we ended up with one of the heaviest snowpacks on record. Meanwhile, Anderson says the earliest we might get rain is near the end of the month, or around Thanksgiving…

But if November is also dry, Anderson says we’ll be tied for the second-driest start to the season on record. Since October first, the official beginning of the water year for the National Weather Service, Grass Valley has received only four-hundredths of an inch of rain. The historical average is four-point-four inches. But reservoir storage still looks good, with Oroville Dam at 92-percent of average and Shasta Dam at 120-percent, as of Thursday.