Storms top average rain to date, good sign for parched Santa Paula
January 11, 2017
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
The latest storm that brought anywhere from .77 to .85 inches of rain to parched Santa Paula was a record-setter of sorts bringing the area to 104 percent of the average rain to date, good news following the long, dry drought.
Most of the rain fell after midnight Monday and by sunrise had calmed with light showers predicted during the day.
According to the Ventura County Watershed Protection District (VCWPD) the storm brought .77 inches of rain to the Santa Paula area; spweather.net reported .85 inches based on the rainfall at the weather station near the Santa Clara River.
Either way, everyone is willing to take it following a 5-year drought that dried lakes, evaporated reservoirs, challenged farming and killed greenery throughout Southern California.
According to the VCWPD so far this rain year, which runs from October 1 through September 30, the accumulated 6.56 inches rain to date for Santa Paula is 104 percent of the 6.31 inches normal rainfall to date. Last year’s rain to date was 4.64 inches.
Average annual rainfall in the Santa Paula area has been 18.05 inches but in 2011-2012 it was 9.85 inches; 2012-2013 saw 5.96 inches; 6.15 inches fell during the rain year of 2013-2014; the next year, 2014-2015 got wetter with 11.22 inches but dipped again in 2015-2016 to 9.88 inches.
It was expected the rain would take a break until Tuesday, with intermittent storms forecast for the rest of the week.
Although the rain is bringing relief, experts warn that the water losses during the drought could take years to recover.
