This is when it's OK to get excited over 0.01 inch of rain
Much of the Bay had gone several months since receiving much of any rain. Some places, like San Francisco Airport, still haven't.
MONTEREY, Calif. -- There was a celebration of sorts along the California coast on Tuesday morning when a cold front swept through and brought a little rain to Monterey.
Emphasis on "little."
Monterrey is home to the Bay Area's National Weather Service office, and when their observers went out in the sprinkles to check the rain gauge, they were excited to find water there!
That is officially 0.01 inches of rain and officially enough to be considered measurable rainfall.
That doesn't sound like a lot, and it isn't, as their cohorts in also-dry San Diego would tell you:
But it was Monterey's first measurable rain since early August. Much of the Bay Area had gone several weeks or even months since receiving much of any rain. Some places, like San Francisco Airport, still haven't. The front didn't bring any of the precipitation bounty to San Francisco's official measuring station, leaving them dry yet again.
And again. And again….
The zero in the rain gauge was nothing new for the indicator at SFO Airport. Tuesday was the 192nd consecutive day without measurable rain -- more than six months! That continues to set their all-time record dry streak, which was broken two weeks earlier at 177 days. The last day with measurable rain at the airport was March 20 -- the first day of spring.
Of course, not many live at the airport, and the wait for measurable rain hasn't been quite as long for those living in the city.
The rain gauge inside Downtown San Francisco has reported 10 dates over the spring and summer with minimal but measurable amounts of rain -- likely drizzle and mist from the persistent fog that rolls into the bay.
Late springs and summers without much rainfall are typical in the area. Monterey averages just 0.35 inches of rain from June through September, while San Francisco Airport has 0.25 inches – with many Julys ending up bone dry. Only 17 of the 76 years of data at San Francisco Airport have had measurable rain in July.
Dry weather remains in the forecast for the Bay Area for the next several days, which will push their airport dry streak to over 200 days, but long-range forecasts indicate some rain may be in the offing as we get past the first week of October.