When was the last great rainstorm in San Diego?

Question

I can't remember!! It's raining today!! yay!

Answer 1

Hi Boxjelly-

The last really GREAT RAINSTORM to hit San Diego was on January 26, 1916. It seems the county was in a severe drought situation. They hired a local rainmaker called Charles M. Hatfield, a Valley Center resident, to make it rain. He was to be paid about $1,000 for his successful ability to make it rain.

Unfortunately, the rain came and by 11am the following day San Diego had received 11 inches of rain. A dam in Otay Mesa collapsed and Escondido was cutoff from the rest of the world by water. Food and supplies had to be barged into Oceanside and hauled by horse and wagon teams into Valley Center and Escondido.

The city officials refused to pay Hatfield because they said his rainstorm was too devastating. Hatfield sued and the case drug out until 1938 when a judge finally ruled it was an "Act of God". Hatfield never got paid. Conversely, he could not be held financially responsible for the damage either.

Could you imagine what Mission Valley would look like if it received 11 inches of rain today. Whoa!...Titanic City.

Have a great day and stay dry.
Tom

Answer 2

The last one that I remember was 2 years ago (2005), around January, I believe. It hit the entire state of California with torrential rains. I remember that I was driving from Northern California to my home in Southern California and what should have taken me 9 hours took me 14 hours. Driving through Santa Barbara, when I pulled into a gas station to get gas, the city streets were flooded to the point of water pouring by. Traffic on the freeways near L.A. was moving at a speed of about 60 mph when all of a sudden, it came to a complete stop and nobody could move because it was raining SO hard that you couldn't even see 2 feet in front of you, even with the windshield wipers going full speed.

Answer 3

Last year, and I think this year rain will hit hard, heres a weather map for ya, on San Diego Weather.

: )

http://www.123world.com/san-diego/san-diego-weather.php

Answer 4

yesterday haha yea it rained a lot !

Answer 5

two days ago and we need more before we all shrivel up like a ....