Rain: End-December Rain

Today, 27 December, it's been raining most of the day and the rain continues. So far there's 0.80 inches of new rain in the rain gauge, but it's supposed to continue to rain into tomorrow, at which time I will update our total precipitation so far in the current rain year. 

Rain: Another Quarter Inch (April 24-25)

We had a little more rain on the 24th and 25th, a total of about a quarter of an inch. That brings our 2013-2014 total to 22.00 inches. That's still well below normal, but not as bad as everyone feared earlier in the year. We could use another ten inches, but that's unlikely to happen. The forecast is for warmer, drier weather ahead. That said, 22 inches is enough for most native plants to get by on.

[On May 8, we had an odd day of mist and drizzle that added 0.2 inches to our annual total, now 22.20 inches].

Rain: Another Two Inches (April 2, 2014)

Heavy rain yesterday and the day before has added another two inches to our total for the 2013-2014 rain year.  Our total now stands at 21.25 inches. That is still low relative to an average year, when we would have had well over 30 inches by now (32.62 inches is the average for April 1), but I'm beginning to feel like the upcoming summer won't be as dire as it looked like it might be earlier in the season. Oddly, the one Santa Rosa weather station I monitor online (and use for the average rainfall data I report here) is showing only 16.45 inches--a large discrepancy. Normally our numbers are very close. Perhaps the rain this year has been more localized than usual?

[Update: Another 0.50 inches overnight on the 3rd and on the 4th brought the total to 21.75 inches.]

Rain: Getting There…. (March 31, 2014)

The past week has been a busy one, mostly stuck at the computer working. It's been a good thing to hear rain outside my office window for much of that week. It's rained off and on and there is more rain in the forecast for the next few days. We need all we can get. I've recorded another 2.0 inches at my house since last reporting.  That brings the 2013-2014 rain total at this location to 19.25 inches--still well below normal, but we're getting there. And more rain is on the way.

Rain: First Rain of the 2013-2014 Rainy Season (September 21, 2013)

It began to rain in Santa Rosa at about 1:00AM this morning (September 21) and drizzled through most of the night. There was hard rain then in the early light of day. Looking at the rain gauge after the rain stopped (around 11:00AM), I see that we got a respectable 0.6 inches in total. This is the first real rain of the 2013-2014 rainy season, which began on July 1, 2013 and will end on June 30 2014. I believe the rain will have come and gone quickly enough that the grapes won't be adversely affected. Harvest is probably still about 10 days away.