Weekend Rainfall Totals for Pasadena Surpass Previous Season

We hiked up a fire road in the mountains above Pasadena on Sunday in between weekend rain storms. During the two hours we were out on a road above the Jet Propulsion Laboratory campus, only a small amount of rain fell. Otherwise, it was a wet weekend with nearly 2 inches of rainfall on Saturday alone. Mt. Wilson, the mile-high point filled with television towers, had 6.27 inches of rain in 24 hours from Friday to Saturday, according to Southern California Weather Notes.

Local headlines also proclaimed the news of a series of avalanches near Wrightwood - about a 1 ½ hour drive from Los Angeles. Three skiers were killed from the rare avalanches. The unstable snow had piled up after a reported 3 feet fell earlier in the week.

Heavy snows in the San Gabriel Mountains and in the mountains near Big Bear are a boost to the water table and a boost to the local economies that will benefit from Angelenos wanting to play in the snow.

Normal annual rainfall for the Los Angeles to Pasadena area totals between 14 inches to 18 inches from a July to June calendar. In January 2008, the Pasadena area has received about 11 inches of rain. Normally, February is the rainiest month of the year. So the '07 to '08 rain season looks like it will surpass normal amounts giving relief to a region normally in need of a good soaking.

Coastal towns like Santa Barbara and Ventura depend heavily on rain to fill their local reservoirs.

The San Jose Mercury News reported in Orange County that residents in canyons scorched by recent wildfires were ordered to evacuate as they have been each time a heavy storm has come through this rain season. However, many residents have ignored the warnings and decided to stay put and risk mudslides damaging their property.

The article quoted Captain Mike Blawn of the Orange County Fire Authority as saying his fear is "people will become numb and look at the [department] like the boy who cried wolf. But what we want them to remember is that in the end, the wolf came."

The 2006 - '07 season was dry with a total of just over 3 inches. However, the 2004 - '05 season was more wet than normal with over 30 inches of rain hitting Pasadena.

In the meantime, after today's hike, we're enjoying burning a few logs in our fireplace during the chilly evening - just like a real winter people experience in other parts of the U.S. Or, should I say, just like normal people?