THE WEATHER BEAT · OCT 12
On this date in 1962, ten Northern California gauges began two days of record rain
On October 12 and 13, 1962, ten Northern California gauges measured their wettest day on record, led by De Sabla near Forest Ranch at 11.3 inches.
Key points
- On this date in 1962, five Northern California gauges in our NOAA station archive measured their wettest day on record, led by De Sabla near Forest Ranch at 11.3 inches.
- The next day, October 13, 1962, five more gauges in the Sierra foothills and on the Peninsula set their own wettest-day records, including Colfax at 10.0 inches.
- Several of these records have stood for more than six decades. Mineral's gauge has kept daily records since 1909, and none of its days has measured more than that one.
Sixty-four years ago today, rain fell across the northern Sierra and the hills north of San Francisco hard enough to set records that still stand. On October 12, 1962, the gauge at De Sabla, which serves Forest Ranch in Butte County, measured 11.3 inches in one day. In a record that runs from 1906 to 2025, no other day there has come close to that. Up the Feather River country, the Bucks Creek gauge near Tobin measured 10.7 inches, and Mineral measured 10.0 inches.
The rain was not only a mountain story. Cloverdale, in the Russian River valley, measured 8.4 inches that day, and Sierraville, on the far side of the crest, measured 6.1 inches. Both are still the wettest days in their records.
It did not stop at midnight. On October 13, 1962, the foothill towns along the old gold country had their turn. Colfax measured 10.0 inches. The Colgate Powerhouse gauge near Dobbins measured 8.1 inches, Gold Run near Dutch Flat 7.9 inches, and Englebright Dam near Smartsville 6.1 inches. Redwood City, on the Peninsula, measured 4.9 inches, which is still the wettest day in a record that began in 1906.
October rarely gets remembered as a big rain month in California. These gauges say that once, it was.
| Date | Town | Gauge (station) | Wettest day | Record span |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 12, 1962 | Forest Ranch CA | De Sabla (USC00042402) | 11.3 in | 1906 to 2025 |
| Oct 12, 1962 | Tobin CA | Bucks Creek (USC00041159) | 10.7 in | 1895 to 2026 |
| Oct 12, 1962 | Mineral CA | Mineral (USC00045679) | 10.0 in | 1909 to 2026 |
| Oct 12, 1962 | Cloverdale CA | Cloverdale (USC00041838) | 8.4 in | 1950 to 2026 |
| Oct 12, 1962 | Sierraville CA | Sierraville Rs (USC00048218) | 6.1 in | 1909 to 2026 |
| Oct 13, 1962 | Colfax CA | Colfax (USC00041912) | 10.0 in | 1905 to 2026 |
| Oct 13, 1962 | Dobbins CA | Colgate Powerhouse (USC00041916) | 8.1 in | 1948 to 2026 |
| Oct 13, 1962 | Dutch Flat CA | Gold Run 4 Sw (USC00043491) | 7.9 in | 1940 to 2025 |
| Oct 13, 1962 | Smartsville CA | Harry L Englebright Dam (USC00043800) | 6.1 in | 1959 to 1970 |
| Oct 13, 1962 | Emerald Lake Hills CA | Redwood City (USC00047339) | 4.9 in | 1906 to 2026 |
*Source: myweatherrock's archive of NOAA daily station records (GHCN-Daily station IDs shown). Spans are the years each station has on record in our archive.*
This is a look back at a historic weather day, not emergency information. For current conditions and warnings see weather.gov and your local officials.
The rock's live forecast for the places in this story
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