Because of weather-related disasters across California at the beginning of the year, the Internal Revenue Service granted two tax extensions to residents of almost every California county, ultimately pushing the usual April 15 deadline six months, to Oct. 16.

In early March, Gov. Gavin Newsom later brought the state tax deadline into alignment with the federal extension. Millions of California taxpayers now have another two weeks to file.

The six-month reprieve covers the overwhelming majority of state residents, including the entire nine-county Bay Area, plus Sacramento County and the hard-hit Santa Cruz County.

While the first, one-month extension was meant to provide relief to Californians who had endured billions of dollars in property losses, the IRS did not specify a reason for the second, five-month grace period.

"The additional relief postpones until Oct. 16 various tax filing and payment deadlines, including those for most calendar-year 2022 individual and business returns," the agency said in a news release. "The Oct. 16 deadline also applies to the estimated tax payment for the fourth quarter of 2022, originally due on Jan. 17, 2023."

Weeks of severe weather in early 2023 took the lives of 41 people across the state, leaving entire towns cut off as one atmospheric river after another brought heavy snowfall and flooding. The coming winter looks to be dominated by an El Niño pattern, raising the likelihood of above-average precipitation, particularly in Northern California.