Another storm is headed for the Bay Area this week, but according to rainfall totals for the second half of the year so far, this El Nino will not be the drought-buster many had hoped for Northern California, especially as compared to the last big one in 1997.

As CBS 5 reports via a new report from the National Weather Service, looking at rainfall totals for the same period in 1997, July 1 to December 5, things were a whole lot wetter in the fall of '97 than the fall of '15.

Looking at various totals at different Bay Area locations, we see that Oakland saw only 1.45 inches since July, while 9.66 inches fell during the same period in '97. Kentfield, which saw a whopping 18.53 inches in '97, has seen only 2.55 inches since July. And Napa, which got over 10 inches during that last big El Nino fall, has only seen 2.33 inches this year.

This may be good news for all the Silicon Valley tech campuses that could easily flood in the lowlands next to the Bay were the rains to get really serious.

But then again, forecasters like climatologist Bill Patzert have also referred to the common "December lull" in California in terms of rain, and rainfall does traditionally peak in January and February.

Essentially the new report is just saying that November was a disappointment up here, rain-wise, even though Tahoe has already enjoyed the heaviest early-season snows it's seen in years.

Overall wisdom has pointed to likely an average-snowfall winter for Lake Tahoe and the Sierras, with far more precipitation likely to hit Southern California this year. But that is not to say that we won't get drenched by surprise any week in our near future.

This week's storm is expected to bring heavy rain by Wednesday, according to the Chron, through Thursday and tapering off on Friday. It will be followed by another cold system with some chilly, 40-degree nights in SF over the weekend, and more rain possible on Sunday.

Previously: Just In Time For 'Godzilla El Niño', City Says It Can't Prevent Repeated Flooding