- Southern California experienced historic rainfall, with San Diego receiving over a month’s worth of rain in just three hours, making it the wettest January day on record and the wettest overall day in nearly a century.
- The region is currently experiencing a break in the rain, but there is concern that more heavy rain is on the way, with forecasts showing multiple rounds of heavy rain targeting California and other parts of the West starting next week.
- The recent extreme rainfall events are connected to the current El Niño event and can also be influenced by human-amplified climate change, which may increase the intensity and frequency of atmospheric rivers and lead to more frequent and intense extreme rainfall events.
Additional Coverage:
Southern California recently experienced a historic amount of rainfall and it appears that more extreme precipitation is on its way to the region. According to the National Weather Service, San Diego received over a month’s worth of rain in just three hours on Monday, making it the wettest January day on record and the wettest overall day in nearly a century. Typically, San Diego only sees an average of 1.98 inches of rain for the entire month of January.
The Southern California coast has been hit hard with rain this week, with some areas receiving up to 9 inches of rain over the weekend and into Monday. This historic rainfall has led to dozens of rescues in San Diego County. While the region is currently experiencing a break in the rain, there is concern that more heavy rain is on the way. Forecasts show multiple rounds of heavy rain targeting California and other parts of the West starting next week and lasting through early February.
While Southern California is expected to have a period of dry weather for at least the upcoming weekend, the northern half of the West Coast, including Northern California, Portland, and Seattle, will see heavy rain on Wednesday afternoon. Another round of heavy rain is expected in the Pacific Northwest by the upcoming weekend. Following this storm system, there will be a brief break in the wet weather across much of the West, but it will not subside completely.
An active weather pattern is expected to develop across the West at the start of February, bringing the possibility of multiple heavy rain events during the first week of the month. These extreme rainfall events, including the recent one in San Diego, are strongly connected to the current El Niño event. El Niño typically leads to wetter than average conditions in the Southern U.S., including California, resulting in multiple rounds of heavy rain and unsettled, rainy weather.
In addition to El Niño, experts state that human-amplified climate change can also contribute to extreme rainfall events, especially as the impacts of global warming worsen. Climate change is expected to increase the intensity and frequency of atmospheric rivers, which are essentially rivers in the sky that transport moisture to different latitudes. These atmospheric rivers play a natural role in the global weather system, but their intensity and frequency may be impacted by climate change. Climate change can also cause extreme rainfall events to become more frequent and intense, leading to an increased risk of flash flooding. Current infrastructure may not be equipped to handle the influx of water from these intense rain events.