Rain: Half an Inch Overnight (Jan. 30, 2011)

Clear, cold, and sunny this morning, but we had 0.5 inches of rain overnight. Last night's rain was the first after a dry spell of a little more than two weeks. The dry spell was a nice respite from the seemingly incessant rain of the preceding weeks, but long enough to get people worried about too little rain again this year. The experts say that a mid-winter lull is not uncommon, though, and I expect it will rain quite a bit more before long. So far, we've had 18.45 inches at this location (my house) in the 2010-2011 rainy season. The historical average for January 30 in Santa Rosa is 18.04 inches. We remain above average--although by a fairly slim margin now--but other locations in Santa Rosa have reported about two inches more than we have had. Normal annual rainfall for Santa Rosa is just over 31 inches. The official 2010-2011 season lasts until June 30, 2011.