Dry break on the horizon for California following relentless storms
The wet winter season will continue into the early part of midweek before the state gets a much-needed reprieve, AccuWeather forecasters say.
If you have travel plans in Southern California on Feb. 20, the weather may be an obstacle. Here’s what to know.
The relentless wet pattern that residents along the West Coast have endured for days is nearing an end, AccuWeather meteorologists say.
A widespread storm arrived with rain in the Central Valley of California late on Sunday, with rain spreading farther south into Los Angeles and, eventually, San Diego on Sunday night.
The storm continued to push rain across inland portions of the state on Monday, with three dozen incidents of flooding reported across Central and Southern California.
Additional rounds of rain will persist across the state into early Wednesday, although AccuWeather meteorologists say the worst of the storm's impacts on the state started to diminish as of Tuesday morning.
Given the saturated nature of the ground, new or worsening incidents of flooding will be possible.
As of Feb. 20, this month is the fifth wettest February on record for downtown Los Angeles. The city has received 12.33 inches of rain so far this month, and will only add to this total into Wednesday.
In addition to heavy rain and flooding, isolated incidents of wind and hail occurred in Northern and Central California at the beginning of the week.
Comparing the impacts from the past couple of storms that barreled into California to the atmospheric river event Feb. 3-5, the impacts have not been as extreme or widespread due to one main factor: the most recent storms have been losing energy as they have approached the coast rather than strengthening.
Heading into the latter part of the week, a shift in the weather pattern will bring drier conditions to California and promote much better weather for cleanup operations.
How is this winter faring compared to last year's season?
Recently, residents spanning all across California, from the Klamath Mountains in the north to desert regions in the south, have been plagued with rounds of storms and wet conditions. The wettest time frame of the year for Californians is typically observed during the winter months; however, forecasters wanted to take a closer look to see how this season to date compares to historical data to gain some perspective on how wet that it truly has been.
From Dec. 1, 2023, to Feb. 20, 2024, cities such as Santa Barbara, San Diego and Los Angeles are all ranking at 140% or higher of their typical observed rainfall for each respective location. To put that statistic into perspective, the total observed rainfall during the winter months to date in Santa Barbara, California, is currently at 19.17 inches. That location typically observes 9.49 inches of rain between Dec. 1 to mid-February, according to historical data.
Even places such as Death Valley, California, have observed 248% of their normal rainfall since Dec. 1 by collecting 2.48 inches to date. Although it doesn’t sound like much compared to how much rain Santa Barbara residents have received, nearly 2.5 inches of rain for desert locations with dry, dense surfaces can be rather impactful in terms of flooding and runoff. The historical average rainfall during this time frame for Death Valley is 1.00 inch.
Last winter, from Dec.1, 2022, to Feb. 28, 2023, rainfall totals in Santa Barbara came out to 165% compared to historical averages, while Los Angeles ended the season with 188% of normal rainfall. Places like Death Valley only collected 0.63 of an inch of rain, putting them at 55% of normal for last year's meteorological winter.
Some locations may end up surpassing last winter's totals with any additional waves of moisture, while others already have hit the mark.
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