This past Tuesday saw a rare rainstorm hit many parts of Southern California, bringing copious precipitation, wind, and mudslides. The storm brought, on average, about an inch and a half of rain, with the total counts ranging from 0.28 inches in Avek to 5.79 inches in Cogswell Dam, according to KTLA. Eastvale received about 1.25 inches. The rarity of such a storm is a news story in itself. Over the past 120+ years, only 20 Octobers have received more than 1 inch of rain, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. For that already rare amount to fall within a single day is remarkable. One storm like it hit in 2021, where over an inch fell in a single day.
High winds also shook the region, with Acton recording gusts up to 73 mph, hurricane-force winds. Meanwhile, the Sierra Nevadas recorded 2-3 feet of snowfall.
The surprising storm comes during a period of La Niña, a weather pattern whereby northern jet streams bring cooler, wetter air to the Northen United States and warmer, drier air to the Southern United States (including here in SoCal). This means that meteorologists expect less rain than average this year. This fact makes the atmospheric river that carried this weather front even more surprising.
Residents of Southern California have their opinions on this. ERHS student Joshua Fan says, “I think there’ll be more rain this winter. I want a lot of rain because there’ll be snow on the mountains to ski.”
“The rain this week was a welcome change and I hope it rains more,” says Vishwanandini Gajjala, “but I think it’s unlikely to happen again anytime soon.”
The dominant feeling seems to be positive towards the rain. After all, most Californians are likely well aware of our near constant drought conditions that contribute to wildfires that ravage the state.
