Strong Pacific Coast Storm Breaks Rainfall, Low Pressure Records

Image (click to enlarge): 24-hour precipitation ending 4 am PST, January 21, from National Weather Service

January 26 Update: Additional record reports are listed below.

Low pressure records:

Location         Date    Pressure      Previous Date
Reno NV          Jan. 22 28.91"/979 mb 29.00"   Jan. 27, 1916
Fresno CA        Jan. 21 28.94"/980 mb 29.10"   Jan. 27, 1916
Bakersfield CA   Jan. 21 28.94"/980 mb 29.24"   Feb. 3, 1998
Las Vegas NV     Jan. 21 29.03"/983 mb 29.17"   Dec. 1949
Phoenix AZ       Jan. 21 29.20"/989 mb 29.30"   Dec. 13, 1984
Yuma AZ          Jan. 21 29.12"/986 mb
Imperial CA      Jan. 21 29.04"/983 mb
Blythe CA        Jan. 21 29.02"/983 mb  

Daily rainfall records:

Location         Date    Amount Previous Date
Santa Maria CA   Jan. 21 0.94"  0.53"    1964
Lancaster CA     Jan. 21 1.19"  0.55"    1969
Palmdale CA      Jan. 21 0.84"  0.72"    1969
Barstow CA       Jan. 21 0.65"  0.20"    1996
Needles CA       Jan. 21 1.66"  0.14"    1991
Las Vegas NV     Jan. 21 0.89"  0.40"    1939
Palm Springs CA  Jan. 21 1.69"  0.62"    1982
Riverside CA     Jan. 21 1.35"  1.04"    1939
Ramona CA        Jan. 21 2.32"  2.08"    1982
Thermal CA       Jan. 21 1.15"  0.07"    1982
Ontario CA       Jan. 22 1.20"  1.10"    1969
Riverside CA     Jan. 22 1.32"  1.10"    1943
Thermal CA       Jan. 22 0.25"  0.14"    1964
Campo CA         Jan. 22 1.01"  0.98"    1996 
Phoenix AZ       Jan. 19 0.87"  0.83"    1917 

• Downtown Reno records began in 1870; observations moved to the airport in 1931.
• Fresno records began in 1888, Bakersfield in 1939.
• The Las Vegas pressure record supersedes the earlier report. The Las Vegas precipitation is a new all-time January daily record (previous 0.81", Jan. 3, 2005). This month is now the 6th wettest January.
• January is the 3rd wettest in Needles.

Original post:
An intense storm moving into the West Coast from the Pacific has brought all-time record low pressure and daily record rainfall to parts of California and Oregon, as well as inland into Arizona and Nevada.

Low pressure records:

Location         Date    Pressure      Previous Date
Medford OR       Jan. 20 28.88"/978 mb 28.93"   Dec. 12, 1995
Eureka CA        Jan. 20 28.90"/979 mb 28.91"   Feb. 1891
Los Angeles CA   Jan. 21 29.20"/989 mb 29.25"   Jan. 17, 1988
Las Vegas NV     Jan. 21 29.13"/986 mb 29.17"   Dec. 1949
San Diego CA     Jan. 21 29.15"/987 mb 29.37"   Mar. 3, 1983 

Note: The pressure at Los Angeles continued to fall, reaching 29.07"/985 mb at 1 pm PST today.

Daily rainfall records:

Location         Date    Amount Previous Date
San Francisco CA Jan. 19 1.55"     1.55" 1962
Modesto CA       Jan. 19 0.93"     0.75" 1933
Long Beach CA    Jan. 19 1.43"     1.39" 1969
Burbank CA       Jan. 18 1.55"     1.44" 1993
Las Vegas NV     Jan. 19 0.49"     0.42" 1954
Needles CA       Jan. 19 0.75"     0.53" 1954
Phoenix Az       Jan. 19 0.87"     0.83" 1917 

Preliminary storm totals from the 16th through the morning of the 21st have ranged as high as 12.96" at Cazadero, elevation 1558' in the North Bay Mountains. Some reports from the San Francisco Bay area include:

 SAN RAFAEL-CIVIC CENTER........... 7.25
SONOMA COUNTY AIRPORT............. 6.39
NAPA COUNTY AIRPORT............... 4.41
RWCC1 REDWOOD CITY................ 4.35
OAKLAND MUSEUM.................... 4.31
SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT............. 3.81
SFOC1 SAN FRANCISCO DNTOWN........ 3.76
NUQ MOFFETT FIELD AIRPORT......... 3.19
CCR CONCORD AIRPORT............... 3.16
SAN JOSE INTL AIRPORT............. 3.02
NWS MONTEREY...................... 3.11
SALINAS MUNICIPAL ARPT............ 2.24

In southern California, storm totals from the 19th through the morning of the 21st include:

SNOWFALL TOTAL 

MT BALDY AT 7500 FT............... 18-24 INCHES 
LOCKWOOD VALLEY AT 5200 FT........ 24 INCHES 
MT WILSON OBSERVATORY AT 5000 FT.. 6.75 INCHES 
WRIGHTWOOD AT 6000 FT............. 16-18 INCHES 
GRAPEVINE AT 4000 FT.............. 6-7 INCHES 
FRAZIER PK AT 5000 FT............. 12 INCHES  

RAINFALL TOTALS 

.LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN 
AVALON............................ 1.37 
HAWTHORNE (KHHR).................. 1.32 
LOS ANGELES AP (KLAX)............. 1.18 
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES.............. 1.35 
LONG BEACH (KLGB)................. 2.64 
SANTA MONICA (KSMO)............... 1.27 
MONTE NIDO FS..................... 1.97 
BIG ROCK MESA..................... 1.23 
BEL AIR HOTEL..................... 1.55 
BALLONA CK @ SAWTELLE............. 1.34 
HOLLYWOOD RSVR.................... 1.54 
L.A. R @ FIRESTONE................ 1.29 
DOMINGUEZ WATER CO................ 1.45 
LA HABRA HEIGHTS.................. 2.29 

.LOS ANGELES COUNTY VALLEYS 
BURBANK (KBUR).................... 1.78 
NEWHALL........................... 2.59 
VAN NUYS (KVNY)................... 2.20 
AGOURA............................ 2.01 
CHATSWORTH RSVR................... 1.95 
SEPULVEDA CYN @ MULHL............. 2.52 
PACOIMA DAM....................... 1.69 
HANSEN DAM........................ 1.80 
SAUGUS............................ 1.51 
DEL VALLE......................... 1.40