It wasn’t a white Christmas, but it certainly was a wet one, with Turlock pelted by more than an inch of rain on Christmas Eve.

A total of 1.05 inches of rain fell on the city Dec. 24, and with a splash or two Dec. 25-26, the total thus far for the 2025-26 water year (which began on Oct. 1) stands at just under 6.4 inches.

That year-to-date total is an inch better than in 2023 (5.32), when the rest of the water year produced nearly 17 more inches of the wet stuff for a staggering year-end total of 22.14. And the figure is nearly on par with 2017 (6.59), which concluded the water year at 20.42 inches.

The figures are provided by Ryan Hollister, an instructor at Stanislaus State and Modesto Junior College who operates a weather station at his home in east Turlock.

2017 and 2023, along with all-time champion 1983, each produced more than 4 million acre feet of runoff from the Tuolumne River Watershed, which sees about 2 million acre feet per year on average.

Of course, it’s no guarantee of what’s to come. In 2022, a whopping 7.62 inches of rain had fallen by Dec. 26, but the rest of the water year turned out to be a dud, with only two more inches recorded over the remaining nine months.

“The recent storm brought nearly four inches of rainfall to the Tuolumne River Watershed,” said Constance Anderson, Turlock Irrigation District’s communications division manager. “It was a warm storm, with freezing levels above 6,500 feet, resulting in very little addition to the snowpack.”

The Tuolumne River watershed is a 1,500-square-mile area that originates on the crest of the Sierra Nevada. Water there tumbles down rocky mountainsides and through glacially carved valleys on its way to the Central Valley.

TID temporarily increased releases from Don Pedro Reservoir to ensure flood control space in the reservoir, but has since backed releases to 660 cubic feet per second. The reservoir currently sits at 76 percent of capacity, with 1.53 million acre feet of water. That’s 112 percent of the historical average for this date. 

“As January and February traditionally bring most of the seasonal precipitation, the reservoir is available to capture the run-off from future rain events,” Anderson added.

The recent storm, which included gusts up to 40 mph, pushed out that stubborn high-pressure system that had hung around the Central Valley for nearly a month. And with that tule fog gone, Turlock could have its first sunny weekend since mid-November.

Fingers crossed.

“It’s been a while since we’ve the sun on consecutive days,” said Scott Rowe, senior service hydrologist and meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “We might see some fog try to develop. If we get a little bit of wind, that could help keep it at bay, but it looks like the wind is going to calm down quite a bit.”

So, while there’s a chance the fog might return, the rain seems to be gone for a spell.

Currently, 50 of California’s 58 counties are experiencing no drought conditions whatsoever, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor website. The remaining eight counties are merely experiencing “abnormally dry” conditions, and not yet to drought levels.