After what seems like weeks of dodging puddles, driving around small rivers on streets, and navigating multiple road closures, most of us have just about had it with the weather. But has it been record-setting, such as that reported to the west of us? Hardly.
Details: Record rain totals were reported over the weekend in Los Angeles, where 1.82 inches was recorded downtown on Saturday, besting the previous record of 1.56 inches measured on a single day in 1978.
- In Palm Springs, .39 of an inch was recorded on Saturday, our wettest day of the weekend. That’s slightly less than our wettest day of the month — Jan. 1. — when .42 inches was measured.
- If you’re curious, the record for one day of rain here is 4.6 inches. That was measured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Jan. 23, 1943.
Looking ahead: One more storm is passing through today, already leaving a tenth of an inch of rain as of 5 a.m. Then we’re back to mostly sunny skies through the end of the month.
Does that mean our rainy season is over? No. Our wettest months of the year are January and February (just over an inch of rain falls in each) so we’re not out of the woods/clouds just yet. Few of us can forget the Feb. 14 storm of 2019, when 3.7 inches of rain fell — the third most ever recorded in the city, according to NOAA records.
But wait: Are we having a “normal” winter?
- Temperature-wise, the answer is no. In December, the historical high averages about 69 degrees. We only hit that mark on 10 days last month. In January, the average high is 70 degrees, which has only been reached three times so far this month.
- Precipitation-wise, the answer is also no. December was dryer than normal (half an inch of rain fell, but three-quarters of an inch was expected); But January has been wetter — seeing .92 of an inch of rain recorded as of Sunday. We should have seen .58 of an inch by that date.
In perspective: Before you send an email letting us know our numbers are off, keep in mind that you’re likely to see multiple reports of rainfall totals depending on where you look.
- The National Weather Service (NWS) uses reports from Palm Springs International Airport, television stations often have their own equipment at their studios, and you could have a rain gauge on your patio.
We primarily rely on NWS reports, but also enjoy the work done by one resident who voluntarily runs Desertweather.com.
