Fernwood Rain Report
By Eric Fitzgerald
A solid storm dropped 1.77 inches of rain on Fernwood on January 27th and 28th. While this was much welcome relief to an otherwise unusually dry January, it only brought our season total to 3.79 inches of precipitation. This is 6.09 inches of rain less than we get, on average, by February 1st. Normally we have had 9.88 inches of rain by now.
Perhaps even stranger still in this era of climate upheaval, we have seen less rain here in Fernwood than the rain that has fallen on downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Civic Center has had 4.39 inches of the wet stuff to date. In the 24 years that I have been keeping records, Los Angeles has never surpassed Fernwood in rainfall this late into the season. Ventura, which is normally wetter than Los Angeles, has only had a meager 2.57 inches of precipitation.
Given the anthropogenic effects on our climate in the 21st century, I suspect we will see more and more of these anomalies in the future.
Below: wonderful solo hike between storms. Fresh snow magically turned the summit of Liebre Mountain (5,760 feet) in the Sierra Pelonia into a sparkling winter wonderland early on the morning of January 24,2021. This mountain range is tucked away in an often-overlooked corner of Southern California between Santa Clarita Valley and The Antelope Valley.
.Chart by Eric Fitzgerald