After a dry start to December, the wet atmospheric rivers that arrived on Dec. 19 are pushing Redding’s rain totals beyond the average for this time of year — but they probably won’t come close to shattering the record.
The rainstorms weren’t the swift heavy downpours that happened in February, but they were consistent enough to cause flooding in parts of greater Redding, according to the National Weather Service.
Here’s how much rain Redding and other Shasta County and North State towns got; how much Redding got at this time in 2024 and its wettest December on record.
In what year did Redding get almost 18 inches of rain in December?
While December is historically Redding’s wettest month of the year, the Shasta County seat got less than 1.5 inches of rain during the first two-thirds of the month in 2025. That changed Dec. 21, when as much as 8 inches fell on parts of western Shasta County in 48 hours, according to weather service data.
More rain fell on Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 22–23, boosting all but the driest parts of the city close to Redding’s historic December average — 6.32 inches — or surpassing it, said Nathan Rick at the weather service’s Sacramento branch.
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With several inches of rain on the way over Christmas, downtown Redding might even match its super-wet December 2024 rain total, 9.15 inches, Rick said.
But 2025 won’t break the city’s record for December rainfall, according to Rick. That was set in 1940, when Redding got drenched with 17.94 inches of rain.
How many inches of rain did Redding and nearby towns get?
Here’s how much rain Shasta County towns got from Friday, Dec. 19 to Tuesday morning, Dec. 23:
Rainfall totals in towns near Shasta County:
Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica on Record Searchlight Facebook groups Get Out! Nor Cal , Today in Shasta County and Shaping Redding’s Future. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: How much rain has Redding recorded so far? See North State totals
Reporting by Jessica Skropanic, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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