CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated when the last rainfall had taken place. This error has been corrected.
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A rainy start to the day on Friday made for a break from the recent triple-digit temperatures the Central Valley has been experiencing.
“It’s very rare to get this moisture that’s deep enough to actually rain at the surface in the valley,” said Bill South with the National Weather Service in Hanford.
South says Friday was the second day ever that rain was recorded in Fresno on Aug. 5.
“To put this into a historical perspective, on August 5th, there was only one other day in Fresno that measured rainfall – dating back to 1888.”
South says Clovis and Visalia received the most rainfall with between 0.13 inches to 0.15 inches.
“It is a nice break in the heat for sure, it can be relentless heat here in July and August,” said South. “What caused the rain is a strong push of monsoonal moisture out of the eastern Pacific Ocean.”
Ryan Jacobsen with the Fresno County Farm Bureau echos that sentiment.
“We’ve been over 20 days now of over 100 degrees and just getting back in the 90s is a good feeling – because it’s been so warm here recently that it’s really slowed the process of a lot of our crops,” said Jacobsen.
Jacobsen says today’s rainfall wasn’t significant but could slow down harvest times.
“This time of year we really don’t like to see these showers only because we have so many crops that are so susceptible because it’s harvest time and this can cause whether its root or other types of damages but it all comes down to timing.”
But the rainfall will not do much to solve the ongoing drought – meteorologist Bill South says we’re going to need a lot more.
“It’s not gonna have a big effect on the drought that’s this severe. What we really need to put a dent in this drought is a good winter. Where we get a good snow and a couple of feet in the Sierra Nevada” said South.