‘Rain Year’ in Pacific Palisades More Than Doubles Los Angeles Average

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Pacific Palisades received a total of 31.38 inches during its most recent rain year—measured from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024—according to Craig Weston, who has recorded the rain and temperature from The Huntington since 2014.

“The highlight of this ‘rain year’ was the deluge of rain that fell in February, which totaled a stunning 15.6 inches for the month alone,” Weston, a self-described “weather enthusiast,” said. “This figure surpassed the previous record recorded downtown in 1998 of 13.68 inches of rain for February. The Palisades almost broke the all-time record of rain for any month downtown, which occurred in December of 1889 when 15.8 inches fell. 4.52 inches fell on February 4 alone, a huge daily total.”

The month of February began with two storms in Pacific Palisades—which brought more than 10 inches of rain to the area. By Sunday afternoon, February 4, Governor Gavin Newsom had declared a state of emergency in eight Southern California counties, including Los Angeles.

The bigger storm, described as a “slow-moving atmospheric river,” which began Sunday, February 4, brought 7.89 inches of rain to the Palisades by Tuesday evening, February 6, at 5 p.m., Weston reported at the time.

Storms that began Saturday, February 17, brought 2.73 inches of rain as of Tuesday morning, February 20, according to Weston.

In addition to February’s rain, Tropical Storm Hilary brought 3.88 inches of rain measured August 20 through 21, 2023, from The Huntington. Weston called the storm—the first tropical storm to hit Southern California since 1939—a “very rare event.” At its peak, Hilary was reported to be a category 4 hurricane, bringing rain and wind to the Baja California Peninsula before making its way to the Southwestern United States.

The previous rain year—July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023—the Palisades received 31.51 inches. For two years in a row, the total “far surpassed the normal average rainfall,” Weston reported.

“The LA Almanac measures a ‘rain year’ for Los Angeles as the amount of rain that falls between July 1 through June 30 of the following year,” Weston explained. “Usually the rain total you hear reported on the news is coming from a station located in Downtown Los Angeles.”

Rain totals can widely vary, Weston continued, depending on if it’s being measured in Malibu, Inglewood or other parts of the county.

“The Almanac says that Downtown Los Angeles, on average, receives 14.25 inches of rain,” Weston said.

The large rain totals that the Palisades has seen recently are partly the result of an El Niño weather pattern, according to Weston.

“An El Niño pattern is an unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean,” he said. “Currently, there is an 85% chance that a La Niña pattern will emerge this next rain year, possibly bringing drier weather to Los Angeles and Pacific Palisades.”

Prior to the 2022-24 season, the Palisades received 13.34 inches of rain between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. The season before that, the Palisades received a “paltry 4.47 inches of rain” from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, according to Weston.

When it comes to temperature, the highest reading Weston recorded in the Palisades in 2023 was 90 degrees on October 5. In 2024 so far, the highest temperature as of July 23 was January 28 at 82 degrees.

The lowest temperature recorded by Weston in 2023 was February 16 at 37 degrees, while in 2024 so far, it was 39 degrees on January 9.