The heavy rains that soaked much of the region last month made it the wettest November in downtown Los Angeles in nearly 60 years, and the fifth-wettest November overall, National Weather Service forecasters said Tuesday.
A total of 5.53 inches of rain officially fell in downtown Los Angeles, the most for a November since 1967, when 8.67 inches fell, according to the NWS. The all-time wettest November in downtown Los Angeles occurred in 1965, with 9.68 inches.
The most recent year that at least 5 inches of rain fell downtown was 1970, when 5.05 inches of rain doused the area.
NWS rainfall records for downtown Los Angeles date back to 1877. The normal amount of rain that falls in downtown Los Angeles in November is 0.78 inches, according to the NWS.
“A series of storm systems brought copious amounts of early season rain to southwestern California from November 13th through 17th and again from November 20th to the 21st,” according to the NWS. “The heaviest storm system occurred from November 13th through 15th, followed by rounds of moderate to occasionally heavy rain at times from late on the 16th through the 17th and from the 20th into the 21st. This heavy early-season rainfall has resulted in near-record to record November rain across much of the region.”
A total of 5.18 inches of rain fell last month at Van Nuys Airport, the wettest-ever November at that location, according to the NWS.