GLENDALE
— Tuesday’s afternoon and overnight showers promised to bring 0.75 inches of rainfall, a high total for a dry year in Southern California, meteorologists said.
Though the measurements are hardly significant historically, the lack of rainfall in the past two years makes them relatively high, said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist for the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center.
“For a normal year, it wouldn’t be substantial,” he said.
“But last time we had rainfall over an inch was April of 2006. So in that case, it is very substantial.”
Weather officials put out a flash-flood warning Tuesday for burn areas hit by the recent wildfires, Seto said.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, the rainfall had not caused any major problems on Glendale freeways, California Highway Patrol Officer Patrick Kimball said.
The storm system is descending from the north, where mountainous areas had as much as 3 1/2 inches of rain. In San Luis Obispo, about 1 1/2 inches of rain was recorded.
In the Los Angeles area, about 0.3 inches of rain had fallen by early afternoon, with heavier showers expected later in the day.
“This is going to be a pretty good, heavy rain, if it’s anything like what we’ve been seeing up north,” Seto said.
So far this year, 3.92 inches of rain has fallen in Glendale, a sharp rise over the 0.76 inches recorded up to Dec. 18 in 2006, said Bob Gregg, a Glendale weather observer for the Los Angeles County Flood Control District.
Average to-date totals are 4.69 inches, he added.
A 20% chance of rain was forecast for Wednesday, with a jump to 40% on Thursday and a return to about 20% late Thursday, Seto said.
The storm came from the Gulf of Alaska, moving south and spilling rain onto California from the system’s outer edges, he said.
“It got mixed in with a lot more moisture today, so that’s why some of the rainfalls are so much heaver,” Seto said.
Temperatures should remain steady, with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s.
