The weeks around Halloween in California usually bring cooler weather, Christmas decorations in stores, leaves to rake and umbrellas opening for the first time since spring. So far this year it’s still dry. No major rain is forecast through the end of October. But that doesn’t mean the state is heading for water shortages. Because the past two winters have been wetter-than-normal, California’s major reservoirs are currently holding more water than usual for this time of year. That’s giving the state — which has suffered through three severe droughts over the past 15 years — a welcome water-supply cushion, experts say, as this winter season approaches. 

Related water supply and weather articles:

• Newsweek: NOAA map reveals US set for unusually warm winter
• 9News (Denver): How to track Colorado snowpack this season
• SFGate: A rainmaker is expected to form in the Pacific. Will it impact the Bay Area?
• San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area stays warm while U.S. is on track for driest October in decades
• KUNR Public Radio (Reno): Mountain West researchers are leading federal efforts to better predict extreme weather events