Rain: The last rain of the season, really

I can't remember how many times this year I thought we had seen the last of the rain for the current rainy season only to be proven wrong by another late rain. It happened again. We got 1.05 inches of new rain on May 27 or so, which is very late for rain in this area. That brings our (final?) total for the 2025–2026 rain year to 29.80 inches, which is on the low side – but late rain is good rain as it shortens the summer dry season during which we are vulnerable to wildfires. 

Rain: Late season downpours

Not 20 minutes ago, the sun was out. Raindrops from rain last night were glistening in the bright morning light. Now, the sky is dark again and it's pouring with rain. During the brief lull, I checked the rain gauge, finding 1.50 inches of new precipitation there, which brings our total for this rainy season to 28.75 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa. That's still low relative to our average annual rainfall, which is about 36 inches, but rain this late in the season is welcome; the later it rains, the shorter the dry summer interval, which somewhat reduces fire danger. 

It looks like I'll be checking the rain gauge again later today and more rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. 

[Edit: Since posting the above, we've had more rain – most recently, rain overnight on the night of May 4 to May 5. Rain this late in the season is a bit unusual, but welcome; the later we get rain, the shorter the high-risk dry summer season. Checking the rain gauge this morning (May 6), we got another 1.25 inches, which brings our total for the 2025–2026 rain year to 30.00 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa.]

Rain: A little more. Perhaps the last?

We had two days of rain at the beginning of the week – Monday and Tuesday. I found about 0.80 inches in the rain gauge after the sky cleared. That brings our total for the current rainy season to 25.45 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa. That's well below normal, which is about 35 inches annually, and the warm weather we had leading up to that rain apparently has reduced the snowpack in the Sierras to close to zero, which does not bode well for the water situation this summer. I'm hoping we have at least one more big storm before the rainy season ends, but we're already near the end of the season. We'll see....

[Edit: It wasn't the last. A new storm passed through the area on the 11th and 12h of April, dropping about 1.8 inches of new rain, which is very helpful. That brings our total so far to 27.25 inches, but it's still raining on and off today. There will be a little more before this ends.]

Rain: A week or more of new rain

Today the sun is out for the first time in several days. It's expected to be a short respite before more rain over the next seven or eight days. Checking the rain gauge this morning, we've had 3.00 inches of new rain since I last made a note of precipitation, bringing our total for the 2025-2026 rainy season so far to 23.00 inches, which is on the low side for this time of year. Average annual rainfall for Santa Rosa, California is somewhere around 35 inches. Even if we get another two to three inches in the coming days, we'll be behind where we ought to be. Let's hope for more in the coming week and then for a rainy March. 

[Edit: A few more rainy days since the above post added 1.60 inches of rain to the rain gauge. That brings our total as of March 1 2026 to 24.60 inches.]

[Edit: A bit of rain overnight on March 1 brought our total to 24.65 inches.]

Rain: Rain in the third week of December (and beyond)

We've had pretty much steady rain for the past couple of days and more rain is in the forecast until the end of the week. As of today, 22 December, we've had 5.25 inches of new rain since I last reported. That brings our total so far for the 2025-2026 rainy season to 11.50 inches at my location in Santa Rosa. Another three inches or so is expected in the coming days. I'm hoping it will be clear again by Sunday as I'll be doing another Audubon Christmas Bird Count on that day. 

[Edit: We got an additional 1.55 inches of rain last night, the night of 23–24 December. That brings our total at my location in Santa Rosa now to 13.05 inches.]

[Edit: More rain on the night of the 25th–26th, an additional 2.55 inches, for a total of 15.60 inches.]

[Edit: It's been raining steadily for the past few days and it's supposed to rain again tomorrow before we head into a dry spell again. Looking at the rain gauge this morning, we've had 3.6 inches of new rain since I last reported, bringing our total as of January 4 to 19.20 inches.]

[Edit: On January 5 and into the early morning of January 6, we had more rain. Today, January 6, the sun's finally out for the first time in about nine days. I found 1.30 inches of new rain in the rain gauge, bringing our total to 20.50 inches. The forecast says it will now be clear for the coming week at least. Nice to have a break....]

Rain: Another 1.8 inches in mid-March

In the past couple of days, it's been raining on and off, at times quite hard. Checking the rain gauge this morning during a lull, I see that we've had an additional 1.80 inches at my location in northeastern Santa Rosa. That brings our total for the 2024–2025 rain year to 38.05 inches, somewhat above the historical average, which is about 36 inches a year. 

[More rain. As of the morning of March 18, we've had another 1.00 inches of new precipitation. That brings our total to 39.05 inches.]

[Since last reporting, a bit of drizzle here and there has added 0.20 inches, bring our total now to 39.25 inches (as of March 26) but rain is in the forecast for the next week, so there will almost certainly be more.]

Rain: Another 2.4 inches

This morning, Saturday, February 15, the sun is out but we had another couple of days of intense rain, mostly on the 13th, that added 2.40 inches to our total so far for the 2024–2025 rain year, which now stands at 36.25 inches. As 36 inches or so is the historical annual average, we've had a full year of rain now with another 10 weeks or so of potential rain ahead. 

Rain: The week of 16 December 2024

In the past few days, we've had rain off and on. Since last reporting, 5.4 inches of new precipitation has accumulated in the rain gauge at my location. That brings our total for the 2024–2025 rainy season to 20.3 inches as of the morning of 18 December. Some stations have reported as much as almost 22 inches. Both are well ahead of normal for this time of the year. Usually we've had about 8.6 inches by this date. Average annual rainfall in Santa Rosa is around 34 inches. It's clear today, but more rain is in the forecast over the upcoming weekend. 

Rain: Start of the 2024–2025 rainy season

We've had light rain so far on three days since the start of October. The precipitation was negligible on the first of these. On October 30 we got about 0.1 inches – not much, but measurable. The first real rain of the season came two days later, on November 1. We got 0.7 inches at my location in northeastern Santa Rosa, which brings our total so far for the year to 0.8 inches. That's not a lot, but already the risk of fire feels lower and I suspect we will get through the fire season without a major incident this year. Hoping for the best – regarding both fire and the election tomorrow.  

Rain: More Rain and Wind

On February 4 and 5 we had almost continuous rain accompanied by high winds. Since last reporting, we've had 5.3 inches of new rain. That brings our total at my location so far this rain year to 20.55 inches.

[Edit: Since last reporting, we've had another 0.50 inches. Our total as of February 8 is now 21.05 inches.]

[Edit: Another wave of storms has been passing through since yesterday (February 18) and as of the morning of February 18 another 4.40 inches of new precipitation had accumulated in the rain gauge. That brings our total now to 24.45 inches – and it's still raining.]

[Edit: Today (February 20) it's clear and sunny in Santa Rosa. This is the first clear morning we've had in some time. Checking the rain gauge this morning, I see we've had another 1.75 inches of rain since last reporting. That brings our total so far this season to 26.20 inches.]

Rain: More storms

We've had a number of storms pass through in recent days (today is January 27). I hadn't checked the rain gauge for a few days, but this morning I found 4.8 inches had accumulated. That brings our total for the current rain year so far to 15.25 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa. 

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: New rain in December

In the past few days, mostly December 19 and 20, we have had rain on and off. This morning there was 3.05 inches of new rain in the rain gauge. That brings our total so far for the 2023-2024 rain year to 6.90 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa, which seems low for this time of year, but more rain is forecast for next week. 

Rain: The last of the season?

Since last reporting (but mostly on May 6) we have had yet more rain. Another 1.15 inches has accumulated in the rain gauge since then, but solid rain as late as May is fairly unusual for us and forecasts suggest the rain is mostly behind us for this rain year. That brings our total to 44.70 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa, which is substantially above the historical average of about 36 inches in Santa Rosa. I'm hoping the garden will need less supplemental watering than it often does and I expect to be able to completely dry farm the vineyard this year. 

Rain: Mostly over for this season?

It looks like we're finally going to get some warmer, drier weather. While everyone here is grateful for the rain we've had, most people I are looking forward to some sunshine, warmer temperatures, spring flowers, and lower heating bills. Since last reporting, we've had another 1.8 inches of new rain. While it looks like there is some chance of showers again at the end of this week, the forecast is now for temperatures fairly consistently in the 60s in Santa Rosa and even up into the 70s finally. In most years, we're already nearing the peak or even the end of the spring explosion of flowers at this time of year. It's been too cold for that so far, but things are beginning to wake up, slowly. The most recent rain brings our total for the current rain year to 43.55 inches--above the historical average of about 36 inches and well above what's been normal the last few years (often below thirty inches).

Rain: It just keeps coming....

Since last reporting, we've had another 2.75 inches of new rain. Our total as of the afternoon of March 21 stands at 40.85 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa, which is well above the historical annual average for the city of about 36 inches. I suspect we've had most of the rain we're going to get this season now, but it's still drizzling out there and is a chance of rain forecast for early next week.

[It rained the night of the 21st again, adding an additional 0.90 inches, bringing the total at my location to 41.75 inches as of the evening of March 22.]

Rain: Almost two inches in the past week

We've had rain on and off in the past week, including a heavy downpour early on the morning of December 4 (this morning). This morning there was 1.9 inches in the rain gauge. That's in addition to a little over two inches earlier in the current rain year, which brings our total to just about four inches. 

[More rain overnight and into the morning of December 5 added another 0.65 inches, bringing the total to 4.65 inches.]

[Rain again into the morning of December 6 has added another 0.80 inches, bringing the total at my location now to 5.45 inches.]

[By the morning of 12 December, another 2.90 inches had accumulated. That brings the total to 8.35 inches as of 12 December at my location, but I'm using the newer rain year definition that counts rain from October 1 through the following September 30, My understanding was that there was an older definition of the rain year going from July 1 forward.

Having said that, once source I found says "A water year is defined by hydrologists as the 12-month period that starts Oct. 1 and continues through Sept. 30 the following year. A rainfall year season is defined as the 12-month period beginning July 1 that continues through June 30 of the subsequent year." So, apparently there is a water year and a rainfall year season. Maybe I'm wrong about the definition having been changed. The same source* says 7.46 inches is the historical average for Santa Rosa by this date. So, in any case, it looks like we're a little ahead of usual--which is good.

*Kent's weather at https://www.angelfire.com/80s/kentsweather/]

Rain: First rain of the new rain year (2022-2023)

In the past few days we've had rain on and off, the first rain in the 2022-2023 rain year, which goes from October 1, 22 to September 30, 2023. So, far, we've had about 1.5 inches of precipitation. I hadn't set up the rain gauge properly on the first day, so this is something of an estimate, but likely not too far off.

(Edit: Today, November 8, it's been raining off and on all day and there is now over two inches in the rain gauge, with more to come. The moisture is very welcome.]

Rain: More Rain (January 7, 2022)

Since last reporting, there has been rain on and off on a number of days—mostly quite light—but we have had an additional 0.65 inches, which brings our total for the current rain year to 22.00 inches. 

Rain: More Rain—Rain expected on and off all week

It rained overnight (December 21-22) and rain is in the forecast every day into next week. We'll see what materializes, but, so far, as of the morning of December 22, we've had 0.70 inches of new rain since last reporting. That brings our total for the year so far to 17.75 inches.  

[Edit: As predicted, we've had more rain. As of of the morning of December 24, we've had another 2.15 inches of precipitation. That brings our total to 19.90 inches--and it's supposed to rain again on Christmas Day and the day after.]

[Edit: We've had another 1.45 inches since last reporting, so our total now stands at 21.35 inches as of the afternoon of December 28.]