September’s unusual rainstorms mellowing

“It’s once in five to seven years we get rain like this during September,” Warren Blier, science officer for the National Weather Service, said.

While many county residents are hoping to see more rain, the rest of the week is expected to mellow out reaching temperatures around the 70s and 80s. The hottest days are expected Saturday and Sunday with highs reaching 87 at their peak.

“The low pressure that’s been giving us all this rain is starting to push inland,” Brayden Murdock, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said.

The rain was an impressive system for early in the season, Blier said, but it didn’t help us. While the rain wasn’t enough to alleviate drought conditions, it did reduce wildfire concerns by wetting everything down.

“But it wasn’t enough to really change the long-term fuels like the heavy timber stuff,” Blier said. “In terms of grass fires, this did help alleviate those scenarios.”

This moderate intensity long-standing La Niña event is still going and somewhat raises the odds that, through January, it’s on the drier side more than the wetter side.

“Slight tilt in the odds of it being drier than wetter, but only a slight tilt,” Blier said.

The rest of the month should see seasonal dry weather, according to the National Weather Service.

As an outlook for December through February’s chances of rain, there is a 46% chance that the rain is below normal, a 33% chance of it being near normal and 21% chance of it being above normal.

There is a small craft advisory along the coast and the southern part of the Bay this weekend but the conditions will change day to day and should be monitored for residents who plan to be in the water.

“One thing we always caution people going to the coast and going to the beach is to be careful, we see unfortunate things happen even when there isn’t anything dramatic going on with the waves,” Blier said. “I would say if you are by the water or on the rocks just pay attention, we are not in a situation prone to sneaker waves but they can happen at any time, so just be careful.”

nick@smdailyjournal.com

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