LOS ANGELES – The last gasp of a storm that produced record rainfall may come this morning [Sept. 16] in the form of scattered showers.
The storm — spawned by a low-pressure system laden with moisture from former Hurricane Linda — resulted in several records for a September 15.
The National Weather Service said record rainfall figures included .64 inches in Lancaster, breaking the 1984 record; .43 inches in Palmdale, breaking the 1975 record; and 2.39 inches in downtown L.A, breaking the 1968 record.
Tuesday was the region’s wettest day to date this year — the wettest was in February — and the second wettest September day in the region since records began in 1877, according to the National Weather Service. The wettest came Sept. 25, 1939, when 3.96 inches of rain was recorded.
“All of the measurable rain on the 15th fell in less than seven hours,” according to an NWS statement. “That was more rain than was received in nearly the previous seven months.”
NWS forecasters pegged the chance of showers in the L.A area this morning at 20 percent in some communities, 30 percent in others.
The NWS forecast mostly cloudy skies today and highs of 77 in Saugus, Palmdale, Lancaster and at LAX.
Temperatures generally will be a couple of degrees higher under partly cloudy skies Thursday and rise again on Friday, when sunny conditions will return. By Saturday, several communities will be back in the 90s.
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Stoptothink says
Ocean? AV? Hmm ground water table. We don’t have or need catch basins. What we have is flood control. This in turn allows the water to filter down into the ground and be drawn from across the AV. I have lived here all my life and have yet to see rain runoff travel up out of the valley.
Tim Scott says
Bingo. We don’t need to invest in catch basins…we live in one.
pirruris says
Why are we not investing in building more catch basins in the AV? The majority of rain water is wasted and goes right back to the ocean. Has anyone wonder how do the Navy ships and cruise ships make their own water? How are the Saudis making their own water in the midfle of the desert? As long as a few entities have monopolies on water, energy, and fuel…new technologies will be never thrive. By having a monopoly, they ensure that they keep raping us every month with the utility bills.
Eric says
Saudi Arabia is completely dependent on desalinized water. I don’t have the link off hand, but Al Jazeera did a pretty good report on comparing California’s drought with Saudi Arabia’s. The difference was the Saudi’s pumped their ground dry in the course of 30-50 years and the government decided to hell with growing wheat.
As far as basins, you hit the nail on the head. If they took proactive steps to counter water use and any future droughts, they’d have a much harder time trying to get away with rate raises.
ReallyNow says
The water that falls here goes right back to the ocean? The AV has a natural catch basin system of sand on top of clay and bedrock. The rain falls, it soaks in quickly through the sand, some areas it builds up on clay layers and more slowly seeps in. But it mostly stays here, we are a catch basin.