Rain: Last night (June 19, 2019) We Had 0.2 Inches of Rain

Strangely, it rained last night and into the early morning. Very unusual at this time of year. We had 0.2 inches of new precipitation in the rain gauge last night, bringing our total for the 2018-2019 rain year to 37.50 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa.

Rain: Unusually Heavy Rain Late in the Season

It began raining on May 16, and really raining. It's unusual to get much rain in May at all—very unusual to have an actual storm come through. It rained most of today, May 17, and more rain is expected into next week. It's been cold and windy, more like December than mid-May. The rain gauge showed about half an inch this afternoon, but I had put the gauge away for the season and so missed most of the first day's precipitation, which I'd guess was at least another half inch, maybe more. I will update the total once the storm has passed us by.

[Update: As of this morning, May 21, we have had 1.65 inches of new rain, not counting the half inch or so I missed recording. That brings our total for the 2018-2019 rain year to 38.95 inches—or about 39.5 inches, assuming I missed about half an inch. I hope the rain is over for the year now. It's been a very long, very cold, very wet spring.]
 
[We had more rain on May26-27, adding 0.45 inches to the total for the 2018-2019 rain year. It looks like this, finally, will be the last for the year. It's been so wet and cold this spring that some of the plants in the garden had started to rot. Sunshine will be very welcome. The total at my northeast Santa Rosa location stands at 39.95 inches, which is on the high side of normal. Average annual rainfall in Santa Rosa is a little over 36 inches. Substantial rain this late in the spring is rare. Perhaps we will have a somewhat less threatening fire season in 2019. I hope so.] 

Rain: Will it Never End?

Yes, we need rain. Rain this late in the season is a good thing, as it means it will take longer than usual for the summer months to completely parch the landscape, and it may mean comparatively low fire danger for longer than usual. That said, it's been so dismal and cool this spring that I'm really ready for some sun. It's been raining off and on the last couple of days and it's raining now. It's supposed to rain off and on for the next couple of days....

Since last reporting, we've had 1.15 inches of new precipitation, which brings our total to 37.30 inches so far in the 2018-2019 rain year at my location, which is  a little above normal. Other sites have had more than 38 inches so far. The historical average for April 4 in Santa Rosa is 32.43 inches.

[Update: As of April 12, it's turned sunny finally and little rain is forecast for some time now. Perhaps the bulk of our rain this year is now behind us.]

Rain: More Rain and More Rain (March 21, 2019)

As of this morning (March 21, 2019), we've had another 0.65 inches of precipitation at my location in northwest Santa Rosa since last reporting. That brings our total for the 2018–2019 rain year to 34.00 inches. Today is clear and sunny, but rain is predicted again over the weekend and into next week.

[Update: Subsequent rain added 0.95 inches to our total, which, as of March 24, is 34.95 inches, but more rain is in the forecast for the coming week.]

[Update: As of the morning of April 2, we've had another 1.2 inches of rain, bringing the total to 36.15 inches, which is about the historical average for Santa Rosa. This year has been wet and cold. Everyone is ready for some spring weather....]

Rain: Atmospheric River Dumps 5.5 Inches on Santa Rosa (Februray 27, 2019)

Looking at the rain gauge this morning, it was overflowing. I've never seen it completely filled before. The scale ends at five inches. I'm guessing there was another half inch above that, but I have no idea how long it was completely full and therefore not registering new precipitation. Suffice it to say that we've had at least 5.5 inches of new rain in the last couple of days. That brings our total to 32.60 inches at least at my location in Northern Santa Rosa, close to normal annual rainfall for the entire rain year (about 36 inches). Rain is in the forecast for the next seven to ten days. It seems very likely that this will be a wetter-than-average year. The Russian River and the Santa Rosa Laguna are already above flood level in places.

[Update: As of  noon on March 7, we've had another 2.4 inches of rain. That brings the total now to 35.00 inches for the current rain year at my location. More rain is forecast over the upcoming weekend and into early next week. Perhaps then we'll get a break. It would be nice to see a little sun again....]

[Another update: As of today, March 12, we've entered a dry spell. Nice to see the sun again. Between my last report and today we had another 0.75 inches of precipitation, bringing the total at my location to 33.35 inches so far this year.]

Rain: Heavy Rain Continues (February 13, 2019)

We've been in the middle of another storm last night and so far today. The storm system and other rain since last reporting here has added another two inches to our total, but it's still raining. Therefore, we've had at least 23 inches so far, but I will update this precisely after the storm passes.

[STILL raining: As of 10:00AM on February 14 we've had 4.5 inches of new rain at my location since my last post here. I'm updating here because the gauge goes to only five inches. So, as of this morning, our total stands at 25.80 inches. That puts us ahead of the historical average, which is just under 24 inches for this date in Santa Rosa.]

[Update: As of 4:30 today (February 16) we've had another 1.3 inches since last reporting. Our total is now 27.10 inches.]

Rain: New Storms in Early February

Storms moving through the area yesterday and today have so far dropped 1.3 inches of new precipitation. That brings the total at my location in northwest Santa Rosa so far to 20.10 inches for the 2018-2019 rain year (which runs through October 31, 2019), about an inch below the historical average for the first week of February, but it's still raining....

[Update: Subsequent rain added 1.20 inches of precipitation. That brings the total now to 21.30 inches as of noon February 5, 2019)]

Rain: Another 0.95 Inches

Clear and sunny today for the first time in quite a while. It was still misting last night as I watched the lunar eclipse, obscured by clouds about half of the time. Now the clouds are all gone. There was 0.95 inches in the rain gauge this morning. That brings our total for the 2018-2019 rain year to 18.80 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa. Normal for January 21 in Santa Rosa is a little under 19 inches, so, we are right on track to see an average year of rainfall, as long as the rain doesn't suddenly stop. We'll see.

Rain: Lots More Rain

It's been rainy for the past few days and the forecast is mostly for rain in the coming week. People are already grumbling about it. How quickly we forget about drought....

Since last reporting, we've had 3.50 inches of new precipitation at my location in northeast Santa Rosa. That brings our total so far for the 2018-2019 rain year to 13.95 inches as of noon on January 8, which is about two inches below the historical average (about 15.9 inches) for this time of year, but judging from the forecast, we could easily make that up in the coming few days.

[As of the morning of January 12, we've had another 1.10 inches of rain at my location, bringing the total to 15.05 inches. Average cumulative rainfall for January 12 in Santa Rosa is just under 17 inches, so, we remain a little under two inches behind.]

[As of the afternoon of January 17, we've had 2.80 more inches of rain, bringing the total to 17.85 inches, but it's still raining....]

Rain: More Rain in mid-December

Rain off and on in the past few days has added 1.80 inches to our total for the 2018-2019 rain year, which now stands at 10.05 inches as of noon on December 21. Average by this time of year in Santa Rosa is about 10.3 inches, so we have caught up after a slow start—but more rain is forecast for this weekend.

[Subsequent rain added another 0.40 inches, bringing the total to 10.45 inches as of December 26. The forecast for the next ten days is mostly sunny.]

Rain: More Rain--Lots More Rain (November 28 to December 1, 2018)

Heavy rain overnight on the night of November 28 and 29 and into the morning hours left us with 2.3 inches of new precipitation as of noon on November 29. That brings our total for the 2018-2019 rain year to 7.00 inches. Judging from clouds on the horizon, there will be more, although its clearing right now.

[Sprinkles following this post added 0.15 inches to the total, which is now 7.15 inches as of 8:00PM November 30.]

[Still more rain later added 0.75 inches, to bring the total to 7.90 inches as of December 2, 2018 at my location in northeast Santa Rosa.]

[And yet more in the following days added 0.35 inches, bringing the total to 8.25 inches. More rain is predicted for the weekend of December 14-16] 

Rain: First Rain Since the 2018 Fires

Yesterday and last night (November 21) we got the first rain since the recent fires north of us. The air is finally clean again and I hope the weather has helped contain the fires. We got 1.30 inches at my location. That adds to the 1.5 inches we got back in October. Although this was only the second rain of the 2018-2019 rain year, more rain is in the forecast. Yesterday's rain brings our total so far to 2.80 inches, which is well below normal.

[Update: Rain the following day added another 1.90 of precipitation to our total, which stands at 4.70 inches as of noon on November 24.]

Rain: First Rain of the 2018-2019 Rain Year

Following brief showers on September 30, we had real rain last night and into this morning, the first rain of the 2018-2019 rain year, which began on October 1, 2018. We got 1.25 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa. Rain is a welcome difference from the strange weather we had almost exactly a year ago--the windy weather that led to the fires of October 2018.

[Update: We got another 0.25 inches on the 3rd, bringing the total to 1.50 inches at my location. The forecast now is for sunny skies for the coming ten days or so, but at least we don't have to worry about the kind of fires that devastated Santa Rosa at almost exactly this time last year.]