That’s a shower

Deepa Bharath

Wednesday’s rain showers were probably the biggest -- at least in

terms of what fell to the ground -- this season for Southern California,

meteorologists say.

“The rainfall wasn’t heavy, but it was continuous,” said Philip

Gonsalves, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in San Diego.

There is only a 40% chance of rain today, he said.

This storm system can be associated with an area of low pressure about

100 miles southwest of the Southern California coast, Gonsalves said.

“Now it’s moving in our direction,” he said. “There is a lot of

subtropical moisture.”

This weather scenario is usually associated with winter.

“These storms will become fewer and rarer as we approach summer,” he

said. “We’ve had only two other storms this winter.”

But both were pretty weak storms and did not produce as much rainfall

as anticipated, Gonsalves said. In fact, only about a 10th of an inch of

rain fell Wednesday, bringing the Costa Mesa total to about 4 inches, far

short of the typical 12 inches received by this date.

Gonsalves said an El Nino condition is already developing this year.

Typically, it’s associated with warmer but much wetter winter weather.

“What’s not clear yet is how strong it’s going to be or how it is

going to affect our weather,” Gonsalves said.

Sometimes, El Nino conditions do not affect the weather like they did

in California a few years ago, he said.

“It’s hard to quantify the effects of El Nino,” Gonsalves said.

The rain is expected to clear out by the weekend.

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .