It’s Officially Sacramento’s Wettest May on Record
These storms that have been slamming Northern California the past week have brought heavy precipitation, with inches of rain throughout the area and over a foot of snow in the mountains.
But now that the rain has settled down for a day (it’s not going to last long), we’re seeing that the rain we received this week was historic.
I can’t remember ever seeing rain like this in West Sacramento. pic.twitter.com/nrNp4cquWM
— Cameron Glenn (@CameronCGlenn) May 16, 2019
The National Weather Service announced that the new storms have brought the total May precipitation in Downtown Sacramento to 3.28 inches, which surpasses the previous May record of 3.25 inches. The average May rainfall is 0.76 inches.
It has been quite the May here in #NorCal. Today new daily rain records were set at Downtown Sac, Sac Exec and Stockton. Downtown has now seen the wettest May on record with 3.28" so far beating the old record of 3.25". #CAwx pic.twitter.com/4dIPrpFcjW
— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) May 20, 2019
The announcement is not a big surprise considering many NorCal communities have seen 5 times the normal amount of precipitation this month, mostly due to the 2-day storm that brought up to 6 inches of rain on some areas.
Just how unseasonable has this month's precipitation been so far? Much of CA has seen 200-500% or higher month-to-date precipitation through this morning! Additional precip is expected the next several days. #CAwx #NVwx #ORwx pic.twitter.com/Rqo2pPGGR1
— NWS California-Nevada RFC (@NWSCNRFC) May 18, 2019
The storms also brought some rare May snow to the Sierra Nevada, with Squaw Valley Resort reporting nearly 2 feet of new snow, pushing the resort to over 700 inches on the season and creating once-in-a-lifetime powder days for skiers in May:
Yesterday was ALL TIME! We had the most epic #POWDERDAY at #AlpineMeadows! Mother Nature wanted to help close out the resort in style! This is what we skiers and riders live for, and I never expected to have a day like this in the Sierra at the end of May. 🙌🼠@squawalpine #maypow pic.twitter.com/4L9vrXIVuS
— Dina Kupfer (@DinaKupfer) May 20, 2019
The craziest part of all of this? The storms aren’t over. Weather forecasts are showing a huge storm to hit NorCal on Tuesday, bringing with it even more snow to the mountains. Another Winter Weather Advisory, the third in the past five days, has been issued by the NWS:
Dry weather is expected across the northern #SierraNevada today, but snow is forecast to return tonight and continue into Tuesday evening. Follow the latest road conditions at: https://t.co/6jnhwJNN7a #CAwx pic.twitter.com/Vscsm7N0rY
— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) May 20, 2019
Here are the upcoming weather forecasts for NorCal:
This is absolutely crazy! Of course, the current and upcoming storms will have huge impacts on the waterways and water storage in NorCal. We will be keeping a close eye on water flows and flooding possibilities in the coming weeks.
