San Francisco Won't See A Drop Of Rain In January
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Tuesday's storm that brought some showers to Southern California completely bypassed the Bay Area, and there isn't any rain the forecast prior to kickoff of the Super Bowl this Sunday. That means San Francisco will go without measurable rain in January for the first time ever.
As of Wednesday, San Francisco had no rainfall for the entire month. And KPIX 5's Roberta Gonzales says that isn't going to change before we turn the calendar to February.
"For the first time since 1850, San Francisco will log .00 of rain for the month. A historic note, being the "Driest January On Record," said Gonzales. "There is a huge dome of high pressure setting up for the weekend that will be the culprit of near or record breaking temperatures for the end of January and beginning of February."
The previous record low rainfall was 0.06 inches set just last year. In January 2013, 0.49 inches of rain fell on San Francisco.
The past three Januaries in San Francisco are among the five driest on record. This has brought the average for the past ten years down to 3.03 inches, dramatically lower than the 30-year normal of 4.55 inches.
January's lack of rainfall contrasts with the wet weather the Bay Area experienced in December. Last month, San Francisco saw 11.7 inches of rain. Those rain totals had raised hopes that California could be on its way out of a three-plus year drought.
Gonzales says the state remains way ahead of last year in terms of percent of normal rainfall to day. If the long-range computer models are correct, rain could return February 5,6 and 7th.
