Thursday, January 21, 2010

Strong Pacific Coast Storm Breaks Rainfall, Low Pressure Records

Image (click to enlarge): 24-hour precipitation ending 4 am PST, January 21, from National Weather Service

January 26 Update: Additional record reports are listed below.

Low pressure records:
Location         Date    Pressure      Previous Date
Reno NV Jan. 22 28.91"/979 mb 29.00" Jan. 27, 1916
Fresno CA Jan. 21 28.94"/980 mb 29.10" Jan. 27, 1916
Bakersfield CA Jan. 21 28.94"/980 mb 29.24" Feb. 3, 1998
Las Vegas NV Jan. 21 29.03"/983 mb 29.17" Dec. 1949
Phoenix AZ Jan. 21 29.20"/989 mb 29.30" Dec. 13, 1984
Yuma AZ Jan. 21 29.12"/986 mb
Imperial CA Jan. 21 29.04"/983 mb
Blythe CA Jan. 21 29.02"/983 mb
Daily rainfall records:
Location         Date    Amount Previous Date
Santa Maria CA Jan. 21 0.94" 0.53" 1964
Lancaster CA Jan. 21 1.19" 0.55" 1969
Palmdale CA Jan. 21 0.84" 0.72" 1969
Barstow CA Jan. 21 0.65" 0.20" 1996
Needles CA Jan. 21 1.66" 0.14" 1991
Las Vegas NV Jan. 21 0.89" 0.40" 1939
Palm Springs CA Jan. 21 1.69" 0.62" 1982
Riverside CA Jan. 21 1.35" 1.04" 1939
Ramona CA Jan. 21 2.32" 2.08" 1982
Thermal CA Jan. 21 1.15" 0.07" 1982
Ontario CA Jan. 22 1.20" 1.10" 1969
Riverside CA Jan. 22 1.32" 1.10" 1943
Thermal CA Jan. 22 0.25" 0.14" 1964
Campo CA Jan. 22 1.01" 0.98" 1996
Phoenix AZ Jan. 19 0.87" 0.83" 1917
  • Downtown Reno records began in 1870; observations moved to the airport in 1931.
  • Fresno records began in 1888, Bakersfield in 1939.
  • The Las Vegas pressure record supersedes the earlier report. The Las Vegas precipitation is a new all-time January daily record (previous 0.81", Jan. 3, 2005). This month is now the 6th wettest January.
  • January is the 3rd wettest in Needles.

Original post:
An intense storm moving into the West Coast from the Pacific has brought all-time record low pressure and daily record rainfall to parts of California and Oregon, as well as inland into Arizona and Nevada.

Low pressure records:
Location         Date    Pressure      Previous Date
Medford OR Jan. 20 28.88"/978 mb 28.93" Dec. 12, 1995
Eureka CA Jan. 20 28.90"/979 mb 28.91" Feb. 1891
Los Angeles CA Jan. 21 29.20"/989 mb 29.25" Jan. 17, 1988
Las Vegas NV Jan. 21 29.13"/986 mb 29.17" Dec. 1949
San Diego CA Jan. 21 29.15"/987 mb 29.37" Mar. 3, 1983
Note: The pressure at Los Angeles continued to fall, reaching 29.07"/985 mb at 1 pm PST today.

Daily rainfall records:
Location         Date    Amount Previous Date
San Francisco CA Jan. 19 1.55" 1.55" 1962
Modesto CA Jan. 19 0.93" 0.75" 1933
Long Beach CA Jan. 19 1.43" 1.39" 1969
Burbank CA Jan. 18 1.55" 1.44" 1993
Las Vegas NV Jan. 19 0.49" 0.42" 1954
Needles CA Jan. 19 0.75" 0.53" 1954
Phoenix Az Jan. 19 0.87" 0.83" 1917
Preliminary storm totals from the 16th through the morning of the 21st have ranged as high as 12.96" at Cazadero, elevation 1558' in the North Bay Mountains. Some reports from the San Francisco Bay area include:
 SAN RAFAEL-CIVIC CENTER........... 7.25
SONOMA COUNTY AIRPORT............. 6.39
NAPA COUNTY AIRPORT............... 4.41
RWCC1 REDWOOD CITY................ 4.35
OAKLAND MUSEUM.................... 4.31
SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT............. 3.81
SFOC1 SAN FRANCISCO DNTOWN........ 3.76
NUQ MOFFETT FIELD AIRPORT......... 3.19
CCR CONCORD AIRPORT............... 3.16
SAN JOSE INTL AIRPORT............. 3.02
NWS MONTEREY...................... 3.11
SALINAS MUNICIPAL ARPT............ 2.24
In southern California, storm totals from the 19th through the morning of the 21st include:
SNOWFALL TOTAL 

MT BALDY AT 7500 FT............... 18-24 INCHES
LOCKWOOD VALLEY AT 5200 FT........ 24 INCHES
MT WILSON OBSERVATORY AT 5000 FT.. 6.75 INCHES
WRIGHTWOOD AT 6000 FT............. 16-18 INCHES
GRAPEVINE AT 4000 FT.............. 6-7 INCHES
FRAZIER PK AT 5000 FT............. 12 INCHES

RAINFALL TOTALS

.LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN
AVALON............................ 1.37
HAWTHORNE (KHHR).................. 1.32
LOS ANGELES AP (KLAX)............. 1.18
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES.............. 1.35
LONG BEACH (KLGB)................. 2.64
SANTA MONICA (KSMO)............... 1.27
MONTE NIDO FS..................... 1.97
BIG ROCK MESA..................... 1.23
BEL AIR HOTEL..................... 1.55
BALLONA CK @ SAWTELLE............. 1.34
HOLLYWOOD RSVR.................... 1.54
L.A. R @ FIRESTONE................ 1.29
DOMINGUEZ WATER CO................ 1.45
LA HABRA HEIGHTS.................. 2.29

.LOS ANGELES COUNTY VALLEYS
BURBANK (KBUR).................... 1.78
NEWHALL........................... 2.59
VAN NUYS (KVNY)................... 2.20
AGOURA............................ 2.01
CHATSWORTH RSVR................... 1.95
SEPULVEDA CYN @ MULHL............. 2.52
PACOIMA DAM....................... 1.69
HANSEN DAM........................ 1.80
SAUGUS............................ 1.51
DEL VALLE......................... 1.40

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