Extremely dry rain season reaching record levels in Southern California
Southern California is in the midst of what the National Weather Service is describing as a “remarkably dry rainy season” with much of the region experiencing a record or near-record slow start.
For the official water year, which is recorded between Oct. 1 and Sept. 30 of the following year, rainfall through Jan. 15 totaled only .16 of an inch for downtown Los Angeles, according to the Weather Service. That total is just 3% of the average 5.56 inches of rainfall for that period.
The total of .16 inches of rain has tied the 1962-1963 water year as the second driest to that date. The driest water year to date was the 1903-1904 water year, during which only a trace of rain was received between Oct. 1 and Jan. 15.
The “rather grim statistics” for downtown L.A. are representative of most stations in L.A. County, Ventura County and the south coast of Santa Barbara County, the Weather Service stated.
The following table of Southern California locations shows the total rainfall and average rainfall for the water year from Oct. 1st through Jan. 15:
| LOCATION | TOTAL RAIN (10/01/24 – 01/15/25) | AVG RAIN (10/01 – 01/15) | % NORM RAIN | RANK OF DRYNESS (driest water season) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L.A. Downtown | 0.16 | 5.56 | 3% | 2nd driest (tie) (1903-04) |
| L.A. Intl AP | 0.03 | 5.04 | 1% | Driest (previous 1962-63) |
| Long Beach AP | 0.08 | 4.90 | 2% | 2nd driest (1962-63) |
| UCLA | 0.10 | 6.36 | 2% | Driest (previous 1962-63) |
| Burbank AP | 0.09 | 4.80 | 2% | 2nd driest (1962-63) |
| Van Nuys AP# | 0.05 | 4.49 | 1% | Driest (previous 1999-00) |
| Woodland Hills | 0.16 | 5.96 | 3% | Driest (previous 1962-63) |
| Lancaster AP | T (trace) | 2.57 | 0% | Driest (tie with 1962-63) |
| Palmdale AP | 0.02 | 2.36 | 1% | 2nd driest (1999-00) |
| Sandberg | 0.28 | 4.71 | 6% | 2nd driest (1962-63) |
| Camarillo AP | 0.31 | 4.54 | 7% | Driest (previous 1975-76) |
| Oxnard NWS | 0.49 | 5.76 | 9% | 3rd driest (1962-63) |
| Santa Barbara AP | 0.64 | 6.94 | 9% | 3rd driest (1962-63) |
| Santa Maria AP | 1.54 | 5.09 | 30% | 7th driest (2013-14) |
| San Luis Obispo AP+ | 2.92 | 7.63 | 39% | 7th driest (2013-14) |
| Paso Robles AP | 2.01 | 4.79 | 42% | 13th driest (2013-14) |
Notes:
- T means a trace of rain, which is not measurable.
- # Period of observations less than 30 years (29 years)
- + Period of observations less than 30 years (27 years)
Downtown Los Angeles has already set a new record for the longest period without measuring at least one-tenth of an inch of rain. As of Jan. 15, the last day on which one-tenth of an inch was recorded was back on May 5, 2024, 255 days ago.
“That just recently exceeded the previous record of 253 consecutive days without a tenth of an inch of rain, from Feb. 25 through Nov., 2008,” the Weather Service stated.