My rain gauge shows 4+" for the weekend!
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We got hammered with wind and rain over the weekend . 6" of rain! We get a break tomorrow then more rain through Sunday
Can there be too much rain? Brady
Is it normal to get that much rain this time of the year in California? I guess i havenāt looked at avgsā¦seems late.
\looks like the party continues as you get further north
Nothingās been normal in the past 5-6 years. It is raining more than average though for March. But not an anomaly, statistically speaking.
And NorCal and norther is definitely wetter any time. Just ask @Bradybb!
Oh heck yes. In most of the SF bay area, excess rain just drains into the bay. I classify any runoff as ātoo much rainā. It would be different if the water drained to a lake or reservoir. And letās not forget what happens when hilly soil gets saturated in some areasā¦ major property damage!
Brady and Rob, yes, there is almost always something as ātoo much rainā when we get these torrential downpours, which is what we had, yesterday. Matthew addressed it - it just runs into the ocean. We have some rain capture systems set up here in S. California (and N. California) in the form of reservoirs, but not nearly enough. And yes, this is a wee bit late for us, in general. Usually, our rainy season is Dec through February, maybe into March. We here in S. California did not get the amount of El Nino rain we had hoped for, but our neighbors up north and in Colorado did, which is where we get most of our water here in S. California (Feather River and Colorado River). Our reservoirs are varying in their water recovery. Some up to 80% possibly more, some still pretty low.
Patty S.
The rain on my property was captured by the basins around my plants or directed by pathways to same. I wasted very little of it.
In terms of water runoff from streets headed towards the ocean, it ends up in either freshwater or saltwater lagoons. These are major wildlife areas. So in my opinion none of that is āwastedā.
There are desalination plants being constructed along the coast but these only reflect the general publicās reluctance to use the same technology for recycling of sewer water. The latter would halt dumping of liquid waste into the ocean entirely while the former becomes a source of unwanted salts.
I might think of things in a different way than those of you who live there now. Unless itās disastrously too much rain at once, I tend to think of the amount of snowfall in the mountains as more important. I think this go round is dropping feet of it, which sounds good to me.
Yes. California is a big state. As a whole the population relies on a reservoir system that is snow-fed. The snow pack in general this year is low enough to be considered drought conditions.
San Diego County (where Patty and I reside) is at the southernmost end of the state. As Patty has stated, our water supply is diverse and only about a 1/4 of it comes from the major statewide system. Reductions in that supply do affect us although water restrictions here are less severe than many other counties.
Countywide, our rainfall this āyearā (began 9/2/15) is above average. More rain is predicted for Friday.
Here is an article saying up to 100 inches of snow could fallā¦
Nice to see. You guys should be safe for awhile again.
Yes, weāre in for a really significant snow pack, that will put a very significant dent in our drought. Now, if we can get a repeat next winter, we will feel significantly better about our drought conditions. What is nice about getting local rainfall, is it feeds our local reservoirs, which do provide a certain percentage of our municipal water (varies per water district). So, local rainfall is, indeed, important to us.
Patty S.
Hereās a useful website from the State of California that provides up to date information on precipitation, snowpack, and reservoir conditions:
http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/waterconditions.cfm
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The mega-doppler exploding rain from last week was partly because they seeded the clouds. It really was a huge gully-washer here:
I had 1/3 inch on Friday in Vista CA. Thereās no significant rain forecast for my area in the foreseeable future. I might have to commence irrigation in a few weeks. The overnight temps have been a bit too cool to begin Spring planting.
Hereās statewide (weighted average) data from the 1st week of April ā typically the State benchmark date for water resources.
Reservoir Storage as of 04/03/2016 at midnight: 66% of historical averages
Snowpack Water Content as of 04/04/2016: 81% of historical averages
Accumulated Precipitation October 1 to Date: 103% of historical averages
Source: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/reports/DROUGHTSUM
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Itās unusual in my location to receive rainfall in May, and yet over a 1/2 inch has fallen since midnight and its still pouring outside.
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Yea for us!!! Very, very unusual, but very welcomed.
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Yupā¦trough digging into the west coast as the rest of us bask in summer warmth āthe southwest winds blow.
Duluth, MN is almost 90F right nowā¦
Could be a setup for tornado alley in a few days 