Minneapolis Snowfall Update: Sixth Fifth Snowiest Season

March 24 Update: The 84.7" Minneapolis seasonal snowfall to date is confirmed.

Midnight CDT Update: An unofficially final amount of 4.1" for March 23 leaves the Minneapolis seasonal snowfall total at 84.7", still in 5th place, but just 0.2" behind 1916-17.

5 PM CDT Update: Snow ended at 4:08 pm with only a trace of precipitation since 1:00, so the total of 84.6" is likely to hold.

3 PM CDT Update: An additional 1" which had apparently been recorded earlier raises the total to 84.6", putting the seasonal snowfall in 5th place if confirmed. Further accumulation of up to 1" is forecast through 7 pm. An amount of 0.4" or more would be enough to reach 4th place.

Original post:
Minneapolis is reporting 3" of snow in the last 6 hours as of 1 pm CDT. Combined with the 0.4" reported yesterday, this brings the seasonal total unofficially to 83.6". That amount would put this season in 6th place, behind the 1991-1992 amount of 84.1". Light snow is continuing, although visibility has increased substantially during the past hour.

Sunday's Strong Spring Storm Soaks SoCal; All-Time Daily Rainfall Record at Santa Barbara

Image (click to enlarge): California 24-hour precipitation ending 5 am PDT, March 21, 2011, from National Weather Service

March 21, 8 AM PDT Update: The National Weather Service reports that numerous daily rainfall records were broken by wide margins. In addition, it was the:

• Wettest all-time calendar day at Santa Barbara
• Second wettest all-time and wettest for the month of March at Camarillo
• Wettest March day at Palmdale
• Second wettest March day at Sandberg
• Third wettest March day at Los Angeles Airport

From the National Weather Service:

STATION                   RAINFALL ON        PREVIOUS      YEAR 
                        MARCH 20 2011        RECORD 
                        -------------       --------      ---- 

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES       2.42 INCHES      1.48 INCHES    1943   
LOS ANGELES AIRPORT        2.36 INCHES      1.04 INCHES    1992  
BURBANK AIRPORT            3.85 INCHES      1.15 INCHES    1973                
PALMDALE AIRPORT           1.29 INCHES      0.50 INCHES    1973  
LANCASTER AIRPORT          1.48 INCHES      0.74 INCHES    1992 
SANDBERG                   3.29 INCHES      1.33 INCHES    1992 
SANTA BARBARA AIRPORT      5.23 INCHES      0.90 INCHES    1991 
CAMARILLO AIRPORT          4.91 INCHES      2.26 INCHES    1954  
OXNARD NWS                 4.21 INCHES      2.26 INCHES    1954                  
SANTA MARIA AIRPORT        3.46 INCHES      0.74 INCHES    1958    
PASO ROBLES AIRPORT        2.02 INCHES      0.77 INCHES    1992 

AT SANTA BARBARA AIRPORT...YESTERDAY WAS THE WETTEST CALENDAR DAY ON 
RECORD...AS THE 5.23 INCHES OF RAIN WHICH FELL EXCEEDED THE PREVIOUS 
RECORD OF 4.74 INCHES RECORDED ON MARCH 15TH 2003. 

AT CAMARILLO AIRPORT...YESTERDAY WAS THE WETTEST CALENDAR DAY ON  
RECORD FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH...WITH 4.91 INCHES OF RAIN. THE PREVIOUS 
RECORD WAS MARCH 8TH 1968...WHEN 4.60 INCHES OF RAIN FELL. IT WAS THE 
2ND WETTEST CALENDAR DAY EVER AT CAMARILLO AIRPORT...FOLLOWING 
JANUARY 26TH 1956...WHEN 5.96 INCHES OF RAIN WAS REPORTED.  

AT PALMDALE AIRPORT...YESTERDAY WAS THE WETTEST MARCH DAY EVER  
RECORDED. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 1.20 INCHES...SET MARCH 7TH 1952.  

AT SANDBERG...IT WAS THE 2ND WETTEST CALENDAR DAY EVER FOR THE 
MONTH OF MARCH. THE WETTEST MARCH DAY IN SANDBERG WAS MARCH 28TH 
1993...WHEN 3.38 INCHES OF RAIN WAS REPORTED.  

AT LOS ANGELES AIRPORT...YESTERDAY WAS THE 3RD WETTEST MARCH DAY 
ON RECORD...BEHIND MARCH 7TH 1968 ON WHICH 3.10 INCHES OF RAIN  
FELL...AND MARCH 1ST 1983 ON WHICH 2.55 INCHES OF RAIN FELL.  

In the San Diego area, the 1.09" at Fullerton broke the record of 0.95" set in 1954.

To the north, in the San Joaquin Valley, records were also widespread:

THE STORM SYSTEM THAT DRENCHED THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR  
ON SUNDAY PRODUCED 1.82 INCHES OF RAIN AT THE FRESNO YOSEMITE  
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. THIS SHATTERED THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF  
1.22 INCHES FOR THE DATE THAT WAS ESTABLISHED MORE THAN A  
HUNDRED YEARS AGO IN 1893.  
  
AT MEADOWS FIELD AIRPORT IN BAKERSFIELD...RAINFALL TOTALED  
0.89 INCHES SUNDAY. THIS BREAKS THE PREVIOUS RECORD FOR MARCH  
20TH OF 0.87 INCHES WHICH OCCURRED IN 1973.  
  
OTHER 24-HOUR RAINFALL RECORDS IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY FOR  
MARCH 20TH INCLUDE 1.63 INCHES AT THE MERCED MUNICIPAL AIRPORT...  
1.27 INCHES IN HANFORD...AND 1.41 INCHES IN MADERA.    

In the San Francisco Bay area, Salinas set a new record of 0.97", doubling the old record of 0.48" in 2006. Salinas climate records began in 1930.

Original post:
The strong Pacific storm pounding Southern California on Sunday is setting at least one all-time rainfall record. The Weather Channel twitches that the all-time daily rainfall record at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (KSBA) is 4.74" on 3/15/2003. The 4.59" reported through 6 pm local time has been augmented by 4 more consecutive hours of rainfall, resulting in an unofficial total through 10 pm of 5.24". This not only smashes the all-time record by half an inch, but it's also nearly 6 times the old March 20 daily record of 0.90" in 1991.

Normal precipitation for the entire month of March in Santa Barbara is 3.59"; climate records began in 1941.

Both Los Angeles airport (KLAX) and downtown (KCQT) had set daily records by 6 pm. The airport has received at least half an inch of additional rainfall since that time, and downtown has added about 0.8".

Update to be posted when final amounts are available.