Storm brought over 8 inches of rain to one SLO County spot. See how much fell in your area
The powerful storm that hit San Luis Obispo County on Saturday and Sunday brought several inches of rain to many areas of the region, along with blustery winds that wreaked havoc across the region.
Thousands of businesses and homes experienced power outages, a few of which are still yet to be fixed by PG&E. That includes about 300 customers in Grover Beach, a few customers in Los Osos and about 50 along Highway 46 west of Templeton, according to the utility’s power outage website.
The storm forced the closure of Highway 1 due to a flash flood warning, and heavy rains were blamed for a “large, unknown volume” of treated sewage that spilled released into a San Luis Obispo creek from California Men’s Colony on Sunday morning.
On the bright side, the storm brought much-needed rain to the region and has gotten the county off to an unexpected good start with all of winter still ahead.
Over the course of the rain year, which began on July 1, some areas of the county have received well over 10 inches of rain, according to the San Luis Obispo County Public Works Department.
For example, Rocky Butte, a mountain northeast of Cambria that typically receives the highest amount of rainfall in the county, has received 27.34 inches of rain fall since July 1, according to the county.
Santa Margarita is at about 10.3 inches, Lopez Lake 10.65 inches, Cambria 8.55 inches, Los Osos 8.17 inches and Templeton 7.87 inches, according to the county.
The San Luis Obispo County Airport has received about 6.19 inches of rain, while Arroyo Grande has received 7.6 inches and Nipomo 5.52 in the South County, the county’s data show.
Most of the rain from the weekend storm fell on Saturday, but additional showers on Sunday evening brought precipitation totals to easily over 2 inches for most areas of the county.
The December rains have helped alleviate San Luis Obispo County’s drought conditions, though only slightly, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
The entirety of the county remains in a state of severe drought, with the eastern third even worse, in extreme drought, the Drought Monitor’s map shows. Out of the Drought Monitor’s four drought categories, severe is the third level, while extreme is fourth and the second worst.
Those conditions could continue to improve after the Drought Monitor releases its next update on Thursday with the latest rainstorm totals accounted for.
SLO County rainstorm totals
Here are the three-day rain totals for your area ending at 4 a.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
Rocky Butte: 8.55 inches
Santa Margarita: 6.16 inches
Nacimiento: 5.71 inches
Santa Margarita Lake: 5.16 inches
Las Tablas: 5 inches
West Atascadero foothills: 4.61 inches
Arroyo Grande: 3.92 inches
Templeton: 3.71 inches
Cal Poly: 3.69 inches
Morro Bay: 3.42 inches
Lopez Lake: 2.93 inches
San Luis Obispo: 2.73 inches
Los Osos: 2.69 inches
Atascadero: 2.56 inches
Davis Peak: 2.05 inches
La Panza: 1.69 inches
Cambria: 1.64 inches
Paso Robles: 1.61 inches
Nipomo: 1.47 inches
Shandon: 1.25 inches
Oceano: 1.07 inches
Carrizo Plain: 0.79 inches
This story was originally published December 12, 2022 at 10:58 AM.
