“It is certainly possible we’re going to see a few inches overnight,” Westerink said.
No major damage was reported from the latest storm, Westerink said.
The rain was welcomed in a state prone to periods of drought and that relies on precipitation each winter for water as the weather warms into the spring. Since October, California has received much more rainfall than usual, pushing major reservoir levels higher, state water officials said.
In a normal November, downtown Los Angeles typically gets 0.78 of an inch (2 centimeters) of rain, but has already seen about 3.5 inches (8.9 centimeters) this month.
Santa Barbara County also has been a magnet for the moisture. Parts of the Santa Ynez Mountains have seen more than 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain this month, the weather service said.
A potent atmospheric river is blamed for causing at least a half-dozen deaths earlier this month as it rolled across much of the state. Heavy rains also bring the threat of mudslides in areas that were recently ravaged by wildfire.
Atmospheric rivers are long and relatively narrow bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky, transporting much of the moisture from the tropics to northern latitudes.
You must be logged in to post a comment.