Rainfall records continue to be broken in Los Angeles
Will Conybeare
A man walks under an umbrella along Topanga Canyon Blvd. on Feb. 04, 2024 in Malibu. Officials across Southern and Central California are urgently warning residents to prepare as a storm system fueled by an atmospheric river brings heavy rainfall. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
A powerful storm has been continuously drenching Southern California since Sunday, and precipitation records are seemingly falling as fast as the rain itself.
According to the National Weather Service, Sunday and Monday marked the third wettest two-day rainfall period in the history of Los Angeles.
The last time Angelenos saw that much rain in two days was on Jan. 25 and Jan. 26, 1956, NWS said.
Sunday was particularly wet for L.A., as it marked the wettest February calendar day in nearly 110 years and the third overall wettest day since records began being kept in 1877.
Monday also marked the second day in a row of record rainfall in downtown Los Angeles, where 2.93 inches of rain marks the most rain fallen on the date of Feb. 5 in over 120 years.
“Nearly half of the average seasonal rainfall of Los Angeles has fallen in two days,” NWS officials said.
February 2024 is already the 13th wettest February on record just five days after the month began, with 8.72 inches.
The wettest February on record happened in 1998, when L.A. saw 13.68 inches of rain during the shortest month of the year.
An SUV towing a trailer lies in the rocks on the bank of Cajon Creek near Devore, Calif., on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, after it was swept away in the floodwaters the night before. (Watchara Phomicinda/The Orange County Register via AP)
A garage door is damaged by a storm on a home, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Studio City, Calif. The second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers took aim at Southern California, unleashing mudslides, flooding roadways and knocking out power as the soggy state braced for another day of heavy rains. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
A car is damaged by debris from a storm Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Studio City, CA. The second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers took aim at Southern California, unleashing mudslides, flooding roadways and knocking out power as the soggy state braced for another day of heavy rains. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
At least one home was destroyed by a mudslide in Beverly Glen, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. Feb. 5, 2024. (KTLA)
Rising waters caused by heavy rain destroy encampments along the Santa Ana River near Van Buren Street in Riverside, Calif., on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. (Anjali Sharif-Paul/The Orange County Register via AP)
A traffic officer directs motorists after two were involved in a traffic collision at a busy intersection with nonworking traffic signals due to a power outage on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. A storm of historic proportions has unleashed record levels of rain over parts of Los Angeles. The weather is endangering the city’s large homeless population, sending mud and boulders down hillsides dotted with multimillion-dollar homes and knocking out power for about 830,000 people in California. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Mud and debris is strewn on Fryman Rd. during a rain storm, Monday Feb. 5, 2024, in Studio City Calif. The second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers took aim at Southern California, unleashing mudslides, flooding roadways and knocking out power as the soggy state braced for another day of heavy rains. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Submerged vehicles are photographed after a mudslide, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
An SUV sits buried by a mudslide, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Workers clear a tree that fell onto a home during heavy wind and rain on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Emergency crews attend to a vehicle that went off the road. Feb. 4, 2023. (TNLA)
The Los Angeles River carries increased stormwater flow due to the atmospheric rivers affecting Northern California, which are expected to bring heavy rain and potential flooding to the Los Angeles area, Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A tree splinter due to extreme winds on Fillmore Street in San Francisco on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. As an intense atmospheric river-fueled storm sweeps through California, regions across the state are preparing for serious flooding, power outages and street closures. Heavy rains are expected along with intense winds. (Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
A truck drives through a flooded street during a rainstorm, Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in Santa Barbara, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
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Other locations that saw record rainfall include several airports in the L.A. area; LAX experienced more than two-and-a-half inches on Monday, smashing the previous record of 1.42 inches set in 1978.
Fox Field in Lancaster and Palmdale Airport in Palmdale also saw rainfall records be broken by more than an inch, weather officials said, and both Bob Hope Airport in Burbank and Long Beach Airport received more than two-and-a-half inches.
The total rainfall for the 2023-2024 water season in downtown Los Angeles – which officially started on Oct. 1, 2023, and ends on Sept. 30, 2024 – stands at 13.95 inches.
“It is also already 98 percent of the normal seasonal rainfall of 14.25 inches,” the National Weather Service said.
For live coverage of the storm system soaking Southern California, click here.
