Parts of California are missing 2 years' worth of rain

 By 
Andrew Freedman
 on 
Parts of California are missing 2 years' worth of rain
A boy stands on the end of a floatable pier on Lake Success in Porterville, California, U.S., on Monday, April 13, 2015. Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

California is in a record drought of the kind that hasn't been seen in at least 1,200 years, by one measure.

Now the National Weather Service in Phoenix has come up with a new way of wrapping your head around the magnitude and scope of California's drought. Meteorologists there created a graphic showing that since October 2011, most of the state has now missed out on a year's worth of rainfall.

Some places are even missing two years' worth.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The drought has prompted the governor to issue the state's first-ever mandatory water restrictions statewide, although critics have pointed out that the state is largely exempting agricultural users from significant cuts in their water use.

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