Votes cast, acres burned, beams lit: Let’s measure Sacramento’s 2022 by the numbers
The third year of a pandemic. Sixty-six consecutive winter days without rain. Hundreds of thousands of acres burned. Millions of ballots cast.
Plenty happened in Sacramento and across California in 2022. And with virtually every big development throughout the year, there’s at least one number that tells a big piece of the story.
From jolting earthquakes and weather anomalies to COVID-19 deaths and an election cycle, here’s a look back at 2022 by the numbers.
California wildfires: 364,000 acres burned
Though California did suffer some deadly and destructive wildfires in 2022, the state saw a very quiet fire year compared to the preceding few.
Cal Fire reported only 363,917 acres burning across state and federal land, a decline of more than 85% from the roughly 2.5 million acres that burned in 2021, and also well below the five-year average of 2.3 million acres from 2017 through 2021.
Despite widespread drought conditions persisting this year, California benefited from some good timing in its rain storms.
Also fortunate: No major dry lightning storms developed in 2022. Dry lightning, a term that describes thunderstorms accompanied by very little rain, sparked some of California’s biggest fires of 2020 and 2021 — and of all time.
Cal Fire reported nine total wildfire fatalities in 2022, all of them civilians, and 876 structures destroyed across 7,641 fire incidents.
The year’s largest blaze, the Mosquito Fire, torched 76,788 acres in El Dorado and Placer counties.
The fire, which started Sept. 6 and was fully contained Oct. 27, destroyed at least 78 structures, many of them in the towns of Volcanoville and Michigan Bluff.
COVID-19: 21,600 virus deaths in California
Through Dec. 20, California saw about 21,600 COVID-19 deaths, down from about 50,000 deaths in 2021 and close to 26,000 in the final 10 months in 2020, according to preliminary figures from the California Department of Public Health.
The 2022 death toll will likely rise modestly, as more death certificates are finalized.
Sacramento County saw about 960 deaths through Dec. 20, compared to about 1,620 in 2021. Placer County deaths fell to about 180 in 2022, from about 360 in 2021.
CDPH reported nearly 5 million new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide in 2022. The true number of infections, however, is unknown as the rate of lab testing declined significantly compared to 2021.
Homicides: 110 across Sacramento County
The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office recorded 110 homicide deaths in 2022 through last week, down slightly from 113 in 2021 and 123 in 2020.
The total included 54 in Sacramento city limits and 39 reported by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. Additional homicides were reported by suburban police departments including Citrus Heights (four), Rancho Cordova (four) and Elk Grove (two).
Homicides investigated by the Sacramento Police Department included the six people killed on April 3, during a gang shootout at the downtown intersection of 10th and K streets, which marked the deadliest mass shooting incident in city history.
Sacramento rain: 8 inches, well below annual average
A rainy December has helped, but a record-long dry spell during the first three months of 2022 doomed California to a well-below-average calendar year for precipitation.
The city’s main station at Sacramento Executive Airport recorded 8.09 inches for the year, through Tuesday. More than half of that total, about 4.7 inches, has come this month, including just over an inch between Monday and Tuesday amid an atmospheric river storm.
2022 will likely end with less than half of the 2021 total, reported by the National Centers for Environmental Information at 18.9 inches.
The annual average at Sacramento Executive going back to 1948 is 17.7 inches, according to the weather service.
Downtown Sacramento shattered a record early in the year: No measurable rainfall was recorded between Jan. 7 and March 14, a 66-day streak. The previous high mark, of 52 winter days without rain, came between late 2013 and early 2014.
Kings: 18 beams lit and counting
The Kings lit their new, meme-inspiring-but-beloved victory beam at least 18 times in 2022, with a comeback win Wednesday, and a chance to do so one more time in their last home game of the calendar year Friday, against the Utah Jazz.
Starting this season, the team began illuminating Sacramento’s skyline with a purple quartet of high-powered lasers atop Golden 1 Center following each win, home or away.
The fans love it, and chants of “Light the beam,” have begun to ring out in the Golden 1 stands late in games when the Kings are leading.
The Kings’ 18-15 record entering Wednesday had them positioned as the No. 6 seed in the NBA’s Western Conference, which would earn the team a spot in the playoffs.
Making the playoffs, either by advancing out of the play-in tournament or ending the regular season as the sixth seed or better, would end the Kings’ 16-season drought, which is the longest in league history.
Last season, the Kings were 15-22 on Jan. 1.
Voter turnout: Mostly above average
Midterm elections happened this year which brought a significant voter turnout at surrounding counties.
El Dorado had the highest eligible voter turnout at 62%, also better than the 54% average during the previous eight elections according to county election offices and the California Secretary of State.
Placer County wasn’t far behind, 61% of eligible voters cast ballots, better than the 55% average during the previous eight elections.
Both Sacramento County and Placer tied with 44% eligible voters casting ballots. For Sacramento that was similar to the 44% during the previous eight years. For Yolo that was also slightly similar to the 45% during the previous eight elections.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 997 bills
A lot happened throughout California’s legislation.
Reproductive rights was a big topic not just in California but throughout our nation. The state also tackled topics on pay equity, California Climate commitment and housing just to name a few.
In 2022 Governor Gavin Newsom signed a total of 997 bills and vetoed 169 bills.
This is 227 more bills signed than last years 770 total. He also vetoed 103 more bills than last years 66.
High school graduates: Over 400,000 in California
Firearm background checks: 3% decrease
A background check is required to bear arms in California.
In 2022 background checks in the state were comparable to those of 2021 according to data from the Federal Firearm Background Checks in California.
In 2022 a total of 1,310,450 background check were conducted through November. That is a 3% decrease from the 1,351,076 background checks conducted in 2021.
13 significant earthquakes
California is an earthquake state.
We ended the year with a significant 6.4 earthquake in Humboldt county. Thankfully, this year has experienced less notable earthquakes according to the United States Geological Services.
This year through November, California experienced 13 significant earthquakes. That’s seven less than the 20 we experienced in 2021.
This story was originally published December 29, 2022 at 7:09 AM.
