After three years of drought conditions in San Benito County and
throughout the region, the series of storms that started Jan. 18
had dropped around 5.3 inches of rain as of Tuesday evening at a
monitoring station just outside Hollister. For the entire rainy
season so far
– which generally occurs from October into March – that same
monitoring station has received 10.52 inches of rain.
After three years of drought conditions in San Benito County and throughout the region, the series of storms that started Jan. 18 had dropped around 5.3 inches of rain as of Tuesday evening at a monitoring station just outside Hollister.
That alone would represent well over a third of the average total for a year at the same location, which historically has received 13.9 inches annually, said Brian Tentinger, a forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Monterey.
For the entire rainy season so far – which generally occurs from October into March – that same monitoring station has received 10.52 inches of rain, according to the totals. Precipitation levels do vary widely in the county, however, because they fluctuate according to elevation.
The latest round of showers should be wrapped up for the most part as of this morning – 0.52 inches of rain fell from Monday to Tuesday evening, the last available reading before publication – and Tentinger had expected it to stay dry until perhaps Friday and Saturday, when there is a 30 percent chance of rain each day.
Next week, then, the forecast shows more rain, but “not as menacing” as last week, he said. He said the conditions are “keeping with the active pattern” – a break from the rain every two or three days.
