Rainy Season in Pacific Palisades Falls Just Under Average

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

The Los Angeles rainy season fell just under average, with Pacific Palisades receiving 13.34 inches of rain between July 1, 2021, and June 30.

“Our 13.34 inches puts us slightly under the average rainfall for this area of 15 inches per year,” local weather authority Craig Weston, who tracks data each year, explained. “Last season was a La Niña year, which accurately predicted that our rainfall totals would fall short of our yearly average.”

The predicted drier year looked to be in jeopardy toward the end of last year, Weston said, as the Palisades received a “stunning” 8.92 inches of rain in late December 2021, with more than four inches falling on December 30 alone.

In addition to the end-of-the-year rainfall, two storms brought rain to the Palisades at the start of December, with most of the rain falling on Tuesday, December 14, before a smaller, weaker storm moved into the area on Thursday, December 16. By Tuesday at 3 p.m., 1.42 inches of rain had fallen in the Palisades.

“However, this great start petered out, as our historically rainy months of January through March showed disappointing totals,” Weston shared of December’s rainfall.

On average, Los Angeles receives approximately 2.6 inches of rain in the month of December.

The 2020-21 yearly rainfall total in Pacific Palisades, which was measured from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021, fell far below the average yearly tally, according to Weston.

“Pacific Palisades received a paltry 4.47 inches of rain, which was far below the average yearly rainfall of 14.93 inches,” Weston said at the end of the season last summer.

Weston said although that year’s rainfall was disappointing, the 2019-20 rainfall measured at 16.5 inches and the 2018-19 season was a healthy 25.14 inches.

So far in 2022, the highest temperature was 93 degrees on April 8. The low temperature occurred on January 3 when the Palisades reached 37 degrees.

“For all of 2021, the Palisades saw its highest temperature of 92 degrees recorded on January 15 and its lowest temperature of 37 degrees recorded on January 26,” Weston said about data collected in 2021.

Looking forward, Weston explained that the drier La Niña pattern looks like it may continue for a third year in a row, which he shared is a “very unusual occurrence.”

“At the moment, however, the data is just slightly favoring this pattern,” Weston concluded, “so anything can change as we enter the fall.”