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: More mid-November rain

Over the last couple of days we've had more rain. Checking the rain gauge this morning (November 16), I see 1.75 inches of new rain. That brings our total so far for the current rain year to 4.95 inches. 

[Edit: As of November 26 we've had another 1.3 inches of rain on and off bringing the total at my location now to 6.25 inches.]

Plants I'm growing (and rain): Last peppers of the year

Winter approaches. Yesterday I picked what will likely be the last of the peppers from the garden this year – shishito, jalapeño, and poblano peppers. That said, winters are mild here. Yesterday I also planted two kinds of spinach, three kinds of lettuce, arugula, mustard greens, and mini turnips. Obligingly the skies dropped 1.30 inches of rain overnight. That brings the total so far in the 2025-2026 rain year to about 3.20 inches at my location.

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: Early February storms

On February 1 and 2, another atmospheric river has been passing through the area. As of the morning of February 2, there were four inches of new precipitation in the rain gauge at the location I monitor in northeast Santa Rosa. That brings our total for the 2024–2025 rain year to 28.50 inches so far, but it's still raining and more rain is expected tomorrow and the day after. 

[Update: As of the morning of February 4, 3.2 inches of rain had accumulated in the rain gauge, bringing our total so far to 31.70 inches, but the rain is still coming down hard and it's expected to continue raining for the next two or three days.]

[Update: On the morning of February 5, there was another 0.90 inches in the rain gauge, although it cleared up by mid-morning and it has been sunny the rest of the day, a welcome change. More rain is forecast for tomorrow and into the weekend. Our total now is 32.60 inches – approaching our average annual rainfall of around 36 inches already in early February.]

[Update: More rain on February 6 but clear on the 7th and it's supposed to be sunny over the weekend of the 8th and 9th before another storm comes in next week. Since last reporting, we have had another 1.25 inches. That brings our total to 33.85 inches – already a full year's rain.]

Rain: Another 4.2 inches

Since last reporting, we've had another 4.2 inches of new precipitation, mostly between December 26 and December 29. That brings our total for the 2024–2025 rain year to 24.5 inches, which is well ahead of normal for this time of year. Average annual rainfall in Santa Rosa is about 34 inches and we still have about three months to go in the current season.  

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: 2024–2025 rainy season

On November 13 and 14, we had some real rain for the first time so far this rain year. I found 1.3 inches in my rain gauge on the morning of the 15th. That brings our total for the year so far to 2.1 inches. That's not much, but it's a start, and the fire danger feels like it will be remain low for the time being. The photo is of leaves and rain that collected a wheelbarrow in the garden.

[Edit: That was a lot of rain. "Bomb cyclone" and "atmospheric river" were terms we heard a lot in the past few days. As much as 12 inches of rain was predicted for this part of Northern California between November 20 and November 22, and the prediction proved quite accurate. By the morning of the 21st, 9.70 inches had accumulated in my rain gauge (probably somewhat more, as it was overflowing the first time I emptied it), and, on the morning of the 23rd, there was another 2.30 inches, for a total of 12.0 inches in about 48 hours – roughly a third of our total annual rainfall in the past few years in that short amount of time. That brings the total so far this rain year at my location to at least 14.1 inches.]

[Edit: More rain on November 25–26 left an additional 0.8 inches in the rain gauge. That brings our total so far to 14.90 inches. There is now no rain in the forecast for the next ten days.]

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: First rain of the 2024-2025 rain season

The forecast called for light rain in the morning of October 12 with a 35% chance of rain. It did rain, but it ended up raining pretty much all day, which was a welcome surprise. The rain was indeed very light – a mist most of the day – but we got maybe a tenth of an inch. I didn't have the rain gauge out yet, but any amount of rain is welcome at this time of the year.  

Rain: Late Spring Storm

A short but intense storm passed through on May 4. On the following (very sunny) day, my rain gauge showed 1.10 inches of new rain at my location in northeast Santa Rosa. It's unusual to get such concentrated showers this late in the rain year, but late rain is welcome. It pushes back fire danger a little and relieves me from having to water the garden for a few days at least. 

I've been a bit lazy about noting rainfall this year. Since last reporting, we have had about three inches of rain I never recorded. That and this new 1.10 inches, a total of 4.10 inches, brings our total for the 2023-2024 rain year to 30.30 inches, which is quite respectable, although below the historical average of about 36 inches. Recently, I've been wondering about that average. I suspect that the average in the past ten years has been lower than that, which suggests this has been a fairly normal rain year relative to what is now normal. 

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: New Precipitation

It's raining this morning, January 13, 2024, a light drizzle. There is 3.55 inches of rain accumulated in the rain gauge, but that's rain from earlier in the month that I haven't yet recorded. Adding that to our last total of 6.90 inches brings the total so far this season to 10.45 inches at my location in northeast Santa Rosa, which is on the low side for this time of year, but it's supposed to rain most of today and there's more rain in the forecast for next weekend. 

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: November-December 2023

I've not been diligent in recording rainfall this season. I've a lot to deal with in the past few months, but I note here that we've had rain on and off in the past few weeks, although nothing in the way of a major storm yet. There is 3.80 inches in the rain gauge, which I haven't emptied recently, so that may be fairly accurate (it is raining now, so it will go up). In any case, I'll use it as my starting point recording rainfall going forward for the 2023-2024 rainy season.