Southern California is in the midst of what the National Weather Service describes as a “remarkably dry wet season,” with many parts of the region experiencing record or near-record slow rains.
In the official water year (recorded from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 of the following year), downtown Los Angeles received a total of just 0.16 inches of precipitation through Jan. 15, according to the National Weather Service. This total is only 3% of the average rainfall of 5.56 inches for that period.
The total of 0.16 inches of rain made it the second driest year after the 1962-1963 water year. The driest year ever was the water year of 1903-1904, during which only a small amount of rain fell between October 1st and January 15th.
The “fairly grim statistics” for Downtown L.A. are representative of most stations on the south coast of L.A., Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, the weather service said.
The following Southern California location table shows total and average rainfall for the water year, October 1st to January 15th.
Location Total Precipitation (10/01/24 – 01/15/25)Average Precipitation (10/01 – 01/15)% Normal Rain Dryness Rank (Driest Water Season) LA Downtown 0.165. 563%Second Driest (Tie) (1903-04) )Los Angeles International Airport AP0.035.041%Driest (Previously 1962-63) Long Beach AP0.084.902% Second Driest (1962-63) UCLA0.106.362% Driest (Previously 1962-63) Burbank AP0.094.802% Second Driest (1962-63) Van Nuys AP#0.054.491% Driest (previous 1999-00)Woodland Hills0.165.963% Driest (last 1962-63)Lancaster APT (traces)2.570% Driest (tied for 1962-1963)Palmdale AP0.022.361% 2nd Arid Region (1999-00) Sandburg 0.284.716% 2 Driest (1962-63) Camarillo AP0.314.547% Driest (previously 1975-76) Oxnard NWS0.495.769% Third driest (1962-63) Santa Barbara AP0.646.949 %3rd driest region (1962-1963) Santa Maria AP1.545.0930% 7th driest region (2013-14) San Luis Obispo AP+2.927.6339% 7th driest region (2013-14) Paso Robles AP2.014.7942%13th driest region ( 2013-14)
Note:
T stands for unmeasurable rain traces. # Observation period less than 30 years (29 years) + Observation period less than 30 years (27 years)
A new record has already been set for the longest period without at least one-tenth of an inch of rain in downtown Los Angeles. As of January 15, the last day a tenth of an inch was recorded was 255 days ago on May 5, 2024.
“This record recently surpassed the previous record of 253 consecutive days without a tenth of an inch of rain from February 25, 2008 to November,” the weather bureau said in a statement.
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