Spring storm doesn’t ease drought fears

A late-season rainstorm that swept through Southern California on Friday provided some respite from what has been a parched spring.

But the area’s heaviest rain in 11 months didn’t budge this season from its distinction as the driest on record.

The storm hit Ventura County in the morning and swept east through the Southland, bringing half an inch of rain to downtown by late afternoon. That bumped the total rainfall since July 1 to 3.16 inches -- 21% of where it should be at this time of year: 14.65 inches.

Although the slick roads inconvenienced commuters and led to numerous traffic accidents, the storm provided a welcome shower of moisture to the area.

“From the national forests to the coasts, we needed this,” said Bill Patzert, a climatologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge. “This doesn’t put a ding in the drought, but it’s sure going to look nice this weekend. Everybody’s garden is going to be greened up.”

March, typically one of the wettest months, was bone dry this year. Downtown Los Angeles saw a paltry 0.05 inches.

Rainfall typically starts to drop off in April, making this storm a bit of a surprise to meteorologists.

“It’s a little late to get the heavy storm of the season,” said Jamie Meier, meteorologist with the Los Angeles/Oxnard office of the National Weather Service. “April storms are very unpredictable. It seems more unusual than it is because we’ve gotten so little so far this year.”

The lack of rainfall was a factor in early-season wildfires that swept through hillsides in the last month, including one near Burbank and another that damaged homes in Beverly Hills.

Fire officials said the rains would do little to prevent more fires.

“Even if there is a little bit of growth with these rains, it’s not going to do too much good in the long run because so much dead vegetation has accumulated from the dry spell,” said d’Lisa Davies, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. “We’ve been lucky that we haven’t experienced any mudslides.”

tony.barboza@latimes.com