As some of you may know, a horrendous rainstorm just hit Southern California. An unusual storm formed over the Pacific Ocean and moved towards Southern California and bombed it with rain. Four days of rain fell in the Los Angeles and San Diego area, which is the most populated part of California.
Almost 13 total inches of rain fell in four days. That’s about 3 inches of rain per day. The average for Los Angeles of inches per year is 12 inches. They just got that in four days! But this is more than just a rainstorm.
This is from a weather system called El Niño. El Niño is a system that can cause rainy winter or La Niña which causes cold, snowy winter. We are in an El Niño right now. But this rainstorm had some collateral damage.
Many buildings and houses were damaged throughout California. And sadly, 9 people have died so far. But the reason for a lot of damage was because this part of California is not equipped for this much rain. As I said, this part of California only gets around 12 inches of rain per year.
But it just is not that the Southern part of California is getting a big storm. While Southern California is getting rain, Northern California is also getting rain and massive winds. In San Francisco, people recorded 77 miles per hour gusts. And in the mountains, 125 miles per hour gusts.
Even more North near the border of Oregon and California, they are getting snow. In some places, up to a foot! And this might not be the end. The global temperature is rising every year. And every year, El Niño affects the USA (Read about how it impacts Northport here). But we could do more in preparing for these storms to prevent future damage, like what was caused by this massive storm.
