SANTA MONICA, CA — A weekend storm brought record rainfall to parts of Los Angeles County and significant downpour to Santa Monica, the National Weather Service reported Monday.
The storm system continued to move scattered through the region on Monday, bringing showers and more snow to the mountains. Some flooding and hazardous road conditions were reported over the weekend and on Monday morning.
Rainfall between a tenth and a quarter of an inch were expected through Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service reported. Possible thunderstorms were expected on Monday and the foothills and mountain areas could see up to three-quarters of an inch of rain, the weather service reported.
Widespread rain doused Santa Monica over the weekend. Over the past three days, Ballona Creek received 1.18 inches of rain, according to the Public Works Department of Los Angeles.
Hollywood Burbank Airport reported 1.21 inches of rain on Sunday, breaking a record of 1.09 inches set for the day in 1996. Lancaster reported 0.46 inches of rain, breaking a record of 0.16 inches set for the day in 1993.
It is expected to be cool with warmer days later in the week. There is a threat of frost and freezing conditions at night in the valleys.
In neighboring Orange County, heavy rain fell in the city of Orange Sunday, where firefighters and paramedics pulled a man from the river during a swift water rescue in the area of the Santa Ana River and Garden Grove Boulevard. He was taken to a hospital for follow-up care.
Anaheim broke its record of 0.94 inches of rain in 1994 with a new record of 1.33 inches, the Los Angeles Times reported.
While the winter storm was welcome news in dry Los Angeles, it won’t be enough to combat drought conditions, officials said. According to NOAA, 2022 is the 10th driest year to date over the past 128 years in Los Angeles, down 8.42 inches of rain from normal.
One hundred percent of the county is under moderate drought conditions, according to the US Drought Monitor. About 25 percent of the county is under extreme drought conditions and 0.04 percent is under exceptional drought conditions, NOAA reported.
As for the rest of the season, very little rain is expected to fall across the Southland as lingering La Niña conditions are forecast to keep the region dry from December through February, according to an update published Nov. 17 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service.
“It should be no surprise that the winter outlook is consistent with typical La Niña impacts, which include a general warmer and third south, and cooler and wetter north,” Jon Gottschalck, chief of the climate center’s operational prediction branch, told the Los Angeles Times.
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