major deluge

Chico got pounded last evening with a storm that dropped up to an inch (in some spots, more than an inch) of rainfall in less than 30 minutes. The storm remained stationary over Chico for about an hour. I managed to get a couple of nice pictures of the storm clouds over Chico last evening, and I've posted one of those pics to the right. The unofficial Chico weather reporting site south of town measured only .46", but downtown in particular got hit hard with heavy rain. Streets turned into torrential creeks as water overflowed gutters. Some buildings (including my workplace) suffered minor flood damage. What was interesting about this storm was the isolated nature of it (Oroville residents saw no rain, while Paradise residents, eight miles to the east, saw only sprinkles) and the fact that it was stationary over Chico for a long period of time. It was very unusual, and some parts of Chico picked up a whole month's worth of precipitation in just a couple of hours. This should not happen again for the forseeable future as high pressure works its way over our area and stays for the next week or so. Temperatures will warm up (the high in Chico yesterday was only 72 degrees) into the mid and upper 80s by this weekend. However, they should stay below 90 degrees for awhile. That'll make the weather a lot more bearable! Here's the detailed seven day forecast for Chico from the National Weather Service:

This Afternoon: Sunny, with a high near 78. Light south wind.

Tonight: Clear, with a low around 51. South wind around 6 mph becoming calm.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 85. Northwest wind between 3 and 5 mph.

Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 53. Calm wind becoming east northeast around 5 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 85. Light and variable wind.

Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 59.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 89.

Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 57.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 87.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 57.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 87.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 57.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 85.