LOS ANGELES — A swath of California closed out 2013 with its driest year on record, marked by above-normal temperatures and thirsty reservoirs.
Although a drought has not been declared, some communities urged residents to conserve water.
Dozens of cities saw historically parched conditions this year, setting new marks in record-keeping that in some cases dates back more than a century.
Downtown Los Angeles received a meager 3.60 inches of rain since Jan. 1, the driest calendar year since 1877. Normally, downtown would get about 15 inches of precipitation.
Similarly, San Francisco recorded just 5.59 inches of rain since the beginning of the year, 18 inches below normal. Sacramento is 14 inches below average after receiving 6.13 inches of rain this year.
The records were not to become official until midnight, but there was no rain in the forecast for the next several days.
‘‘It’s been pitiful,’’ said Bob Benjamin, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in Monterey, Calif. ‘‘It’s a concern, but we do have several months to catch up.’’
December is typically one of the wettest months, but a stubborn dome of high pressure has steered storms away from California for the past month.