LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Californians are breathing a sigh of relief after this weekend's wet weather, but we'll need to see much more before we're close to average.
"It's very helpful, certainly not to be dismissed, but there is still a long way to go," said California Dept. of Resources State Climatologist Dr. Michael Anderson. "Normally we'd have over eight inches of rainfall for the water year, and right now we're looking at a little over an inch."
The water year starts in October, with fall rains expected through November, but this year that didn't happen.
"What really hurt us is ... we made it through almost halfway through our wet part of the season with no rain," said NWS Meteorologist Dr. Robbie Munroe.
This weekend's storm marked the first time since last May that Los Angeles saw over a tenth of an inch of rain. Just what would it take to turn things around?
"We really need to get into a wet pattern, and in a hurry because February and March are our last couple of months of where we typically get our best rainfall," said Munroe. "We're running against the clock."
While forecasters say it would be tough to get to "average" levels with how little rain we've seen so far, consistent, light storms would certainly help.
"Looking at a storm like we saw this past weekend, but looking at that happening every week," said Anderson.