When will the rain end! (Sacramento, Redding: to live in, move to, parks)

[Bulldogdad]

I've seen it happen a few times since the 1960's.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Overall the past rainfall year has been pretty long. It will be interesting to see if the dry season begins soon. If there are additional fronts, albeit days / weeks apart, I'd still deem that a "Year Without Summer." Once we hit August, if we have not started to have a proper dry season there won't be one.

[DMenscha]

The rain gauges all reset on July 1. So far this year not a single drop. It must be a drought.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by KC6ZLV

National Weather Service - NWS Sacramento

If you scroll down to the bottom you will see the normals for the date. Note the precipitation average for the date is close to 20 inches.
"NORMAL SEASON TO DATE......... 19.77"

Okay, that's only a couple inches difference, and I've seen another reporting station at 17+ inches. That's very negligible. The point is, Sac doesn't get much rain compared to most of the country. Most of the South, for example, gets about 50 to 60 inches, and the midwest gets a good 40 inches, plus snow.

[wburg]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Overall the past rainfall year has been pretty long. It will be interesting to see if the dry season begins soon. If there are additional fronts, albeit days / weeks apart, I'd still deem that a "Year Without Summer." Once we hit August, if we have not started to have a proper dry season there won't be one.

I think we can rule out a "Year Without Summer" at this point. 100+ degree heat all week!

[KC6ZLV]

Originally Posted by tstieber

Okay, that's only a couple inches difference, and I've seen another reporting station at 17+ inches. That's very negligible. The point is, Sac doesn't get much rain compared to most of the country. Most of the South, for example, gets about 50 to 60 inches, and the midwest gets a good 40 inches, plus snow.

Half the country receives less than 25" of precipitation.

Precipitation totals include snow. Much of Illinois receives about 35-40" of precipitation. About 7-12" of that falls as snow.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by KC6ZLV

Half the country receives less than 25" of precipitation.

Precipitation totals include snow. Much of Illinois receives about 35-40" of precipitation. About 7-12" of that falls as snow.

I'm not sure what you mean by half the "country" -- are you talking purely by land mass? We have vast uninhabitated deserts and semi-arid mountains west of the Rockies, from the Canadian border down to the Mexican border. But as far as where people live (not those areas), most American cities receive way more than 25" a year.

Here's a list of the 100 biggest metro areas in the U.S. by rainfall:
Annual Rainfall In 100 Largest U.S. Metro Areas - Weather News Story - KIRO Seattle. Only 19 out of those 100 have less than 25" of rain per year. Sacramento is the 17th driest of the 100 largest metro area in America.

Some examples of cities scattered around the country:

Dallas 35"
Houston 54"
St Louis 39"
Portland, OR 37.5"
New York 45.7"
Boston 43"
New Orleans 61"
Atlanta 49"
Miami 60"
Nashville 48"
Charlotte 42.5"
Washington DC 39"
Chicago 37"
Seattle 38"
Detroit 32"

So definitely only a small portion of American residents actually receive less than 25" of annual rainfall.

[KC6ZLV]

I didn't say half of the 100 largest metro areas. I said half the country receives less than 25" of precipitation.

[Pretzelogik]

Originally Posted by tonyman

is it usual for it to rain in May? When dos it usually stop?

If you want NO rain come to AZ, NM, West TX....have not had any for about 9 months.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by KC6ZLV

I didn't say half of the 100 largest metro areas. I said half the country receives less than 25" of precipitation.

That's what I figured. It's a shame most of the people live in the wet areas, isn't it?