Los Angeles Has Already Seen More Rain This Year Than All of 2018

We’re just a few weeks into the new year, but believe or not, Los Angeles, California has already seen more rain so far in 2019 than all of 2018.

This is a bit of a shocking stat for a couple of reasons, but chief among them: It’s probably more of a commentary on how bad 2018 was than how busy 2019 has been. There’s little doubt that 2019 has featured plenty of rain so far with an astounding 9.85″ of rain at LAX Airport and 11.42″ in downtown Los Angeles – while L.A. saw less than eight inches of rain in all of 2018. On average, Los Angeles sees about 14 inches of rain in a full year.

Also, Los Angeles’ sharply pronounced summer dry season means that most of the city’s rain comes during the winter months. During the summer months, hardly any rain falls in L.A., so the opening few weeks of the year tend to be busier than usual.

Still, there’s no way to draw this up other than an incredibly active start to 2019 for Los Angeles, and it’s both helped and hurt the area.

The rain has helped snap some of the worst drought conditions in southern California after a multi-year, historic drought that led to some of the worst wildfires California has ever seen. That said, the heavy rainfall has also contributed to flooding and mudslides. Especially hard-hit areas have been wildfire burn scar areas, where limited or no vegetation can help absorb the abundant moisture.

A few more midweek showers could add to an already impressive start to 2019.

For WeatherNation: Meteorologist Chris Bianchi