By Reginald Stanley. Posted March 20, 2020, 11:40 PM.

Following a dry January and February, a major shift to a persistently wet, rainy weather pattern took place in March 2020, marking the return of wet weather to the region for the first time since December 2019.

March rainfall is already above-average across Southern California, All WeatherCurrents stations had recorded between 3 and 5 inches of precipitation this month, with the exception of the typically dry Pinon Hills to the north (where 2.27 inches had fallen as of March 20). Precipitation averages for the month of March have been skewed below average in recent years, even at stations with many years of data, due to an excessive number of dry Marches in the past decade. Hemet currently leads March rainfall with 4.88 inches, followed by French Valley with 4.70 inches. In contrast, Simi Valley and Riverside recorded under 3.5 inches for March-to-date. San Jacinto - Hemet's neighbor to the north - recorded only 3.62 inches for March, while still above average, it is a steep drop from Hemet's 4.88 inches a short distance away. In south Temecula, the longest-running station in the WeatherCurrents network (where precipitation records date back to 2000), 4.45 inches had been recorded between March 1 and March 20, exceeding the precipitation average for March by more than 3 inches. In East Highland, a March total of 5.23 inches had been reported (courtesy of Peter Michas) as well as a toal of 5.02 inches in Yucaipa (courtesy of Don Kramer). In Temecula Valley's Wine Country, a total of 4.53 inches had been reported through March 20 (courtesy of Jim Sappington).

Season totals, which had fallen behind earlier this year, have since began a steady recovery to near-average across most of the region by March 20. Of the seventeen active WeatherCurrents stations, thirteen of them had surpassed the 10 inch mark for the season this month. WeatherCurrents' station in Fallbrook currently holds the highest season total for the season-to-date in the network, with 13.77 inches. Fallbrook's season average (counting more than 10 years of complete precipitation data) up through March 20 is 13.08 inches, which Fallbrook has now exceeded. In Temecula Valley's Wine Country, a current season total of 12.75 inches had been reported (courtesy of Jim Sappington). Complete season total averages through June 30th are higher still, however the current wet weather pattern may possibly last into early April. WeatherCurrents stations with more than 10 years of complete precipitation data, as of March 2020, included: De Luz, Fallbrook, Hemet, Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, Perris, and Temecula. Only these stations will have long-term averages for the month of March calculated.

Here are the rain totals for the WeatherCurrents network and associates for the month of March 2020, through March 20:

Here are the season totals for the WeatherCurrents network and associates through March 20: