Southern California records its wettest Christmas Eve and Day ever

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Saturday 27 December 2025 14:06 EST


Southern California has recorded its wettest Christmas Eve and Christmas Day ever, according to meteorologists.

Weather officials predicted earlier this year that Southern California's winter would be exceptionally dry, and that those conditions would help fuel some of the worst wildfires in the region's history.

But then the atmospheric rivers arrived and dumped enough water in Southern California to set precipitation records. According to the National Weather Service, some mountain areas received nearly 18 inches of rain since Tuesday.

Between Wednesday and Thursday, the Santa Barbara Airport received 5.91 inches of rain, which beat its 1955 Christmas Eve and Christmas Day record of 3.22 inches. The airport had to close twice on Christmas Day due to flooding, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/climate-change/southern-california-wettest-christmas-b2891008.html

[calimary]

1. Whoa!

Could mean they survive wildfire season. At least this year.

I wish L.A. had more rain. When the air’s washed clean of smog and the hills are all nice and green, it’s actually a pretty place.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. You know your state

and would know about the "seasons" (fall/winter = rainy, which is now, and spring/summer = dry starting around May/June).

I expect that rain may eventually trigger a lot of plant undergrowth that may eventually build-up and become combustible by summer.

And agree about the smog! My very first trip to California was to L.A. back in 1987 in September, where I took a spectroscopy training course. It was also the week that Pope John Paul II visited the city so we ended up being off from training on one of the days that week since the feds closed down for that day. But during the week, pretty much every morning, I noticed what was a "yellow hazy sky" that I initially chalked up to being fog, at least for the first couple days... And then it hit me.

[popsdenver]

2. And Denver broke heat high temps

the entire month of December, including highest temp ever for Christmas day in Denver....

[BumRushDaShow]

4. A bunch of places broke records

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/dozens-records-fall-u-sees-020926429.html?guccounter=1

PLUS the overall average for the continental U.S. itself, broke a record for warmest on record.

Weird "heat-dome-like" ridge in the middle of the country.

[PCB66]

5. This is a neutral weather pattern

An ENSO-Neutral weather pattern means the tropical Pacific Ocean temperatures are near average, lacking the strong warming of El Niño or cooling of La Niña, leading to fewer dominant global climate signals and more regional control, often resulting in cooler northern US winters and warmer southern US winters, with average to above-average summer rain and thunderstorms. It's the "in-between" state where the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) isn't strongly influencing atmospheric patterns, allowing for more typical or varied regional weather

[BumRushDaShow]

6. We were forecast to come out of yet another La Nina in a couple months to go neutral

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.shtml (probably a dynamic link)

EL NIÑO/SOUTHERN OSCILLATION (ENSO)

DIAGNOSTIC DISCUSSION

issued by

CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER/NCEP/NWS
11 December 2025


ENSO Alert System Status: La Niña Advisory


Synopsis: La Niña is favored to continue for the next month or two, with a transition to ENSO-neutral most likely in January-March 2026 (68% chance).

La Niña persisted in November, as indicated by the continuation of below-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean [Fig. 1]. The latest weekly Niño-3.4 index value was -0.5°C, with the other Niño index values between -0.2°C and -0.4°C [Fig. 2]. Recent negative subsurface temperature anomalies weakened slightly (averaged from 180°-100°W; [Fig. 3]), but below-average temperatures continued from the surface to 200m depth in the eastern half of the equatorial Pacific [Fig. 4]. The tropical atmosphere reflected La Niña, with low-level easterly wind anomalies evident in the central Pacific and upper-level westerly wind anomalies observed across most of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Enhanced convection persisted over Indonesia and suppressed convection was near the Date Line [Fig. 5]. The traditional and equatorial Southern Oscillation indices were positive. Collectively, the coupled ocean-atmosphere system remains consistent with La Niña.

The IRI multi-model predictions indicate La Niña will continue in the December-February (DJF) 2025-26 season, but then ENSO-neutral is favored for January-March (JFM) 2026 [Fig. 6]. Together with the North American Multi-Model Ensemble, the team continues to slightly support a weak La Niña through DJF (54% chance), before transitioning to ENSO-neutral in JFM. Even after equatorial Pacific SSTs transition to ENSO-neutral, La Niña may still have some lingering influence through the early Northern Hemisphere spring 2026 (e.g., CPC's seasonal outlooks). In summary, La Niña is favored to continue for the next month or two, with a transition to ENSO-neutral most likely in January-March 2026 (68% chance; [Fig. 7]).

This discussion is a consolidated effort of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NOAA's National Weather Service, and their funded institutions. Oceanic and atmospheric conditions are updated weekly on the Climate Prediction Center web site (El Niño/La Niña Current Conditions and Expert Discussions). A probabilistic strength forecast is available here. The next ENSO Diagnostics Discussion is scheduled for 8 January 2026.

To receive an e-mail notification when the monthly ENSO Diagnostic Discussions are released, please send an e-mail message to: [e-mail].

Climate Prediction Center
5830 University Research Court
College Park, Maryland 20740

We have had probably a 5-peat of La Nina, with brief Enso Neutral interlude years with, no El Nino recently.