It’s Wetter Than Usual Hereabouts

Can there be too much of a good thing? When it comes to rain, perhaps, particularly if the roof leaks like a sieve and the backyard is beginning to resemble the Everglades.

So far this year in Orange County, rain has fallen in abundance.

Through November, rainfall not only has been double the amount recorded by this time last year in many areas, it is also running at twice what is considered the average.

Take, for example, downtown Santa Ana. Based on rainfall records kept by the county Environmental Management Agency’s hydrography division and dating back 75 years, the average precipitation there, measured July 1 to Nov. 30, is 2.09 inches. In 1984, it totaled 2.32. This year it jumped to 5.15 inches.

Record Set in 1947

Of course, that’s still far short of the record of 7.18 inches of rain that fell in Santa Ana in 1947.

The same kind of increases have been recorded elsewhere in the county. At Santiago Peak, 12.54 inches of rain have fallen, compared to 6.35 last year and an average of 5.24. And Costa Mesa has received 4.09 inches versus 1.98 in 1984 and an average of 2.12.

So far, the rains have caused few problems other than the usual rash of traffic accidents, clogged drains and minor mudslides.

But that could change dramatically, depending on how much rain falls in the weeks to come.

Depends on Intensity

“It’s all going to depend on the intensity,” said William Reiter of EMA’s public works division. “If we get a quarter to half an inch every two or three days, we can stand it.

“But if we start getting half an inch in just a few hours every day, then we’ll be getting to a saturation point. It’s the intensity of the future storms that will determine how well we continue to hold up,” he said.

The rain has come to the county from just about every direction: storms out of the north from the Gulf of Alaska, storms up from Mexico and storms straight out of the west from the Pacific Ocean.