With just hours left to go in this month — and no precipitation in the forecast for Tuesday — downtown Los Angeles is set to experience its first rainless November in almost 30 years, according to the National Weather Service.
The 11th month of the year is typically not a wet one for the area, with downtown’s average just a hair above three-quarters of an inch on average, NWS said.
However, it’s still unusual for there to be no precipitation at all. In fact, that hasn’t happened since 1992, weather service data showed.
That spells bad news for the parched region, which — along with much of California — remains in “extreme drought,” according to the federal drought monitor.
Looking further into the forecast, Southern California is expected to experience a drier than normal winter as La Niña conditions continue into the chillier months, according to a recently released seasonal outlook from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
The climate pattern affects various regions in the U.S. differently, but for Southern California, it typically means less rain — which was the case during last year’s event.
This latest La Niña has been given about a 90% chance of lasting through winter, and a 50% chance of extending into spring, according to NOAA.