‘Hit or miss’: Some areas around Sacramento got 2 inches of rain from storm, others much less

The first storm of the season brought some notable rainfall totals to Sacramento and the capital region.

The heaviest downpours occurred on the western fringes of the Sacramento Valley in the mountains west of Tehama and Colusa counties while areas south of the capital saw the least precipitation.

The most amount of precipitation in Sacramento County, for example, was .87 inches at Sacramento International Airport on Tuesday and 1.01 inches since Sunday; the National Weather Service’s downtown Sacramento gauge registered .42 inches over the two-day span, the bulk of which fell Monday night. Yolo County saw more rain, as gauges registered more than 2 inches since Sunday and Davis University Airport received 1.70 inches Monday night into Tuesday and 2.95 inches since Sunday.

“The hit or miss nature of these storms means some areas saw a lot of rain and others didn’t see much at all,” the National Weather Service said in social media post accompanying a map of rainfall totals over 48 hours ending Tuesday afternoon.

But the state’s drought persists. The California Drought Update, a roundup of water developments from state officials, is forecasting “hot and dry conditions to continue through November indicating a late start to water year 2023,” which begins Oct. 1.

Below are the rainfall totals throughout the capital region, collected by the National Weather Service.

This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 3:07 PM.