The normally mild and mellow month of May has been the wild and wooley month of May in this unusual rain year. Wednesday, May 22, started out sunny and fair only to see thunder, lightning, hail, and sleet fall in parts of the Santa Monica Mountains in the afternoon. In my 63 years, I cannot recall ever seeing an electrical storm like this in May, in Topanga.
This May we have received a record 1.82 inches of precipitation so far. The previous record was 1.60 inches of rain in the 2005-2006 rain year. All this luscious moisture brings our season total to 29.20 inches of precipitation. As usual, we have received far more rain up here on the slopes of Saddle Peak than have the low-lying areas around us. For the month of May Woodland Hills has recorded .88 inches of rain, the Santa Monica Pier has recorded 1.36 inches of rain, and downtown Los Angeles has seen .77 inches of rain.
