Wet weather in the parts of the US by Dan Corbett
Wet weather in the parts of the US
It has been quite a wet winter across parts of the southwestern US. Los Angeles has had the second wettest rainy season on record. They have had 900 mm. (35.89 inches) of rain in the 2004-2005 rainfall season. This may seem like a typical amount to some but Los Angeles normally only sees around 375 mm. (15 inches) in an average year.
There has been widespread flooding, mudslides and loads of snow in the mountains from this very active winter.
In the past day or so the most recent storm brought more rain to much of southern California. Bishop, 150 miles northeast of Los Angles, received 29mm (1.2 inches) of rain in 12 hours. 20mm (0.8 inches) of this fell in only six hours. The average rainfall for the entire month of March is only 21mm (0.84 inches).
All this rain across the southwestern US has actually had a positive impact on the ongoing drought. Locally water supplies are in far better shape but the water is still needed with the long dry season approaching. The decent snow pack in parts of the western US will help water supplies also.
The wetter winter could be attributed to a couple of things. A weak El Nino has provided a more active jet stream, high level winds that steer weather systems, and more weather systems to impact the southwestern US. In addition the ridge of high pressure that normally sits off the southwestern US coast has been positioned further south this winter. As a result the weather systems have swung further south across the southwestern US and Northern Mexico.
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