New Year’s Day downpour sets some records in Southern California, with more wet weather ahead

A New Year’s Day storm dumped enough rain on Southern California to topple some daily precipitation records in the Inland Empire and San Diego, as part of a broader recent pattern of above‑average rainfall that has left the region soggy heading into the first week of 2026.

The holiday season has been marked by a series of stormy forecasts, and AcuWeather senior meteorologist Bob Larson reported Thursday, Jan. 1, that more is on the way.

The Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties can expect intermittent rain over the next three days as a series of storms come in from the Pacific Ocean, Larson said.

The biggest impacts, he said, may be felt further up the coast with “steady or heavy rains over Central and particularly Northern California, and that’s going to translate to some very heavy snow over the Sierra (Nevada),” Larson said.

Larson said that the next couple of days may not necessarily include an “extraordinary” amount of rain, but that two separate storms will pass through the area.

“I think it’s just going to be a stray shower Friday, but those showers probably become more widespread on Saturday, especially in the afternoon and evening, and then maybe another round of more enhanced showers that could be briefly heavy later (on) Sunday,” Larson said.

The Jan. 1 downpour also set several daily records, Larson said, some dating back to the 1800s, according to AcuWeather data.

Ontario International Airport received 0.86 inches of rain today, surpassing the previous January 1 record of 0.77 inches. Meanwhile, John Wayne Airport recorded 0.31 inches of rain, breaking its previous January 1 record of 0.22 inches in 2023.

San Diego recorded 2.07 inches of rain, breaking the previous January 1 record of 1.6 inches set in 1855 and tied in 1875.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Oxnard Weather Office reported a record rainfall of 1.32 inches at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, surpassing the 2006 record of 0.35 inches. A 1982 record of 0.6 inches of rainfall was also broken at the Long Beach Airport, with 1.11 inches.

Larson advises Southern California residents to expect travel delays as they enter the weekend, but does not foresee “terribly heavy rain.”

“It’s not as though we’re worried about widespread, substantial impacts…But I would at least be prepared for some localized flooding, airport drainage areas and whatnot, at the very least,” Larson said.

Reported Madison Hart contributed to this story.