Far above season average
Rainfall totals released this week are showing February is one of the wettest months ever recorded with 12.56 inches of rain in downtown Los Angeles reported so far.
There are six days left in February. The latest storm dropped 1.99 inches of rain in downtown Los Angeles and it makes it the fourth wettest February in downtown Los Angeles since 1877, when records first were reported.
It is the wettest month in 26 years, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), since February 1998, the wettest February on record with 13.68 inches of rain.
This February is tied with January 1995 as the seventh wettest month in downtown Los Angeles. The wettest month ever recorded was December 1889 when 15.80 inches of rain fell.
This February is only the 10th month with a foot or more of rain recorded in downtown Los Angeles.
The rainfall total of 12.56 inches this February is 88% of the average seasonal rainfall for downtown Los Angeles. The average seasonal rainfall is 14.25 inches based on a 30-year period from 1991 to 2020.
The rainfall total for Los Angeles in 2023-24 is 17.79 inches, about 8 inches above normal to date, and more than 3.5 inches above the normal for the year.
The official water year for the NWS is from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. It is the third wettest February on record for Los Angeles International Airport and the fifth wettest of any month since 1944 when records began being reported at LAX.
It is the second wettest February on record and third wettest for any month at Long Beach Airport. It is the sixth wettest February and 12 wettest month on record at Hollywood Burbank Airport.
Records began being reported at Long Beach Airport in 1958 and at Hollywood Burbank Airport in 1939.
