SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — If you’ve been living in Sacramento during the previous 12 months, you’ve probably experienced several historic weather events: record drought, record rain and now record heat.
Tuesday’s high of 116 degrees in Downtown Sacramento broke a record that was set in 1925. The record fell after multiple days of triple-digit temperatures. Amid those temperatures, residents were asked to conserve power.
So far, rolling blackouts have been avoided. Generators in Roseville and Yuba City and an emergency alert sent to Californians are credited with helping.
In late October 2021, Sacramento residents experienced rainfall that broke a record set in 1880. The amount of rain that fell in the 24-hour period between October 24 at 1 a.m. and the following day at the same hour was 5.44 inches.
The record rainfall was notable for one other reason as well. Before the weekend of Oct. 23 and 24, Sacramento had only recorded 4.89 inches of rain in all of 2021.
Sacramento firefighters helped residents affected by flooding. (Photo from Sacramento Fire Department) 
Sacramento firefighters helped residents affected by flooding. (Photo from Sacramento Fire Department)
Sacramento’s record rainfall was caused by a “bomb cyclone” that led to Flash Flood Advisories and Warnings. The rain being dumped on the area even led to a call on Oct. 24 from the city for residents to not drive until 4 a.m. the following day.
Creeks swelling with water caused roads to flood, and it led to lane closures on both northbound and southbound Highway 99 in South Sacramento.
More coverage on the heat wave:
- Flex Alerts: This is what you should and shouldn’t do to help conserve energy
- These are the shelters and places where the unhoused population can stay in the Sacramento area
- Sacramento-area cooling centers open during the heat wave
- How to spot the symptoms of heat-related illness
- Is it OK to break a car window to help a trapped child?
Sacramento firefighters at one point were called to help 14 unhoused residents from the area of Pell Drive and Pell Circle after the area flooded. A group of 10 residents was also rescued when two homes flooded.
All this came as Sacramento residents — and most of California — struggled through a drought. To make matters worse, the city had been subject to several dry streaks with no measurable rain.
In the lead-up to the record rainfall, Downtown Sacramento had been on a historic dry streak. Between March 20, 2021, and Oct. 17, 2021, there was no measurable rainfall in Sacramento. It was a 212-day streak.
The previous record dry streak record was also set in 1880. Sacramento went with no measurable rain from May 13, 1880, to Nov. 22, 1880: 194 days.
Earlier this year, Downtown Sacramento faced another record dry streak. In mid-March, Sacramento saw its first measurable rain after 10 weeks. It was the longest period during winter without rain: 66 days.
A Water Alert is currently active in the city, and residents are on a watering schedule.
