SLO County nearly had one of driest rain seasons on record. Here’s how much your area got
San Luis Obispo County’s rain season ended on Wednesday, and the region narrowly escaped having its driest year on record since the late 1800s.
Rainfall totals for the 2020-21 season varied widely throughout the county — ranging from 3.82 inches in Shandon to 19.89 inches at Rocky Butte on the North Coast, according to data from John Lindsey, PG&E meteorologist.
Cal Poly received 13.34 inches of rain during the season, which is about 60% of average, according to Lindsey’s June 29 Weather Watch column.
“If you removed the moisture from January’s atmospheric river, which produced 7.21 inches of rain over a three-day period at Cal Poly, you would be left with only 6.13 inches for this season,” Lindsey wrote. “The driest year on record at Cal Poly is 1897, which only saw 7.20 inches of precipitation.”
Most places received rain that was 40% to 60% of average, including the Paso Robles Municipal Airport, Lindsey wrote. That area typically gets 12.53 inches of precipitation, but it got 6.82 inches of rain this year instead.
Elsewhere in the North County, Atascadero received 10.75 inches of rain on El Camino Real, Creston received 6.07 inches at Creston and O’Donovan roads, Shandon received 3.82 inches, Santa Margarita received 11.31 inches and Templeton received 9.64 inches.
In the South County, Arroyo Grande got 10.35 inches of precipitation on Ormonde Road, the PG&E Education Center in Avila Valley got 11.12 inches, eastern Nipomo got 7.45 inches, Pismo Beach got 8.5 inches, Oceano got 7.72 inches near the Union Pacific Railroad overcrossing and Lopez Lake Dam got 10.66 inches.
Cambria was the closest to reaching its average rainfall total, Lindsey wrote. A rain gauge near Santa Rosa Creek Road and Main Street recorded 15.87 inches of rain, which is about 72% of average.
In other parts of the North Coast, Los Osos received 13.96 inches of rain, Baywood Park received 11.46 inches, Cayucos received 8.5 inches on Richard Avenue and the Morro Bay Yacht Club received 6.16 inches.
Here’s how much rain fell throughout the county during the past year’s season.
This story was originally published July 2, 2021 at 3:49 PM.
