Rainfall totals Santa Barbara, CA
Through Oct 7, 2026, Santa Barbara has received 6.73 inches of rain for the year, according to the official daily climate report. The normal year-to-date total is 12.43 inches. The normal figure is what the city would typically have seen by this point in the calendar. This reading comes from the station gauge at SANTA BARBARA MUNI in the National Weather Service's daily climate report.
as of
Data from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, with records back to 1941. Across the record from 1941, 96 percent of days have a reading, with 100 percent in 2025.
Most recent rainfall
0.01 inches of rain fell on Aug 27, 2026, the latest measurable rainfall this year.
SANTA BARBARA MUNI saw no measurable rain on Oct 7, 2026, according to the National Weather Service daily climate report.
The last measurable rain in Santa Barbara fell on Aug 27, 2026, 42 days ago. In October, rain days at this station are typically 10 days apart.
Official rainfall report for Oct 7, 2026
| Measured | Normal | vs normal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain on Oct 7, 2026 | 0.00 inches | 0.01 inches | -0.01 inches |
| Last 48 hours | 0.00 inches | ||
| Last 72 hours | 0.00 inches | ||
| Last 7 days | 0.00 inches | ||
| Month to date | 0.00 inches | 0.09 inches | -0.09 inches |
| Year to date | 6.73 inches | 12.43 inches | -5.70 inches (-46%) |
| Record for Oct 7 | 0.04 inches | 1983 |
Source: National Weather Service daily climate report for SANTA BARBARA MUNI, issued the morning after Oct 7, 2026. The local National Weather Service office issues the daily climate report for the airport station the next morning, and that report is the official figure.
How much rain did Santa Barbara get?
Days with measurable rain, 2026
| Date | Rainfall |
|---|---|
| Aug 27, 2026 | 0.01 inches |
| Apr 25, 2026 | 0.01 inches |
| Apr 21, 2026 | 0.42 inches |
| Apr 12, 2026 | 0.18 inches |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 0.22 inches |
| Feb 19, 2026 | 0.80 inches |
| Feb 18, 2026 | 0.04 inches |
| Feb 17, 2026 | 0.63 inches |
| Feb 16, 2026 | 0.57 inches |
| Feb 11, 2026 | 0.01 inches |
| Feb 10, 2026 | 0.42 inches |
| Jan 22, 2026 | 0.01 inches |
| Jan 5, 2026 | 0.01 inches |
| Jan 4, 2026 | 0.61 inches |
| Jan 3, 2026 | 1.91 inches |
| Jan 2, 2026 | 0.06 inches |
| Jan 1, 2026 | 0.82 inches |
With 1.91 inches on Jan 3, 2026, this is the 108th wettest of the 2,957 measurable rain days in the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport record, which begins in 1941. That is the most rain recorded at this station on January 3 since 1941.
Through Oct 3, 2026, the GHCN-Daily station record shows 6.73 inches of measurable rain so far this year, falling over a 17-day span. Station observations are from GHCN-Daily, with a 1-3 day lag and quality checks by NOAA.
Santa Barbara rainfall by month, 2026
| Month | Rainfall | Normal | vs normal |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.42 inches | 3.84 inches | -0.42 inches (-11%) |
| February | 2.47 inches | 3.86 inches | -1.39 inches (-36%) |
| March | 0.22 inches | 3.10 inches | -2.88 inches (-93%) |
| April | 0.61 inches | 0.91 inches | -0.30 inches (-33%) |
| May | 0.00 inches | 0.42 inches | -0.42 inches |
| June | 0.00 inches | 0.11 inches | -0.11 inches |
| July | 0.00 inches | 0.02 inches | -0.02 inches |
| August | 0.01 inches | 0.01 inches | 0.00 inches |
| September | 0.00 inches | 0.07 inches | -0.07 inches |
| October | 0.00 inches | 0.73 inches |
October is still in progress; figures run through Oct 3, 2026. Averages are 1991-2020 normals from NCEI.
Rainfall days at each threshold in Santa Barbara
| Year | 0.5+ in. | 1+ in. | 2+ in. | 3+ in. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| 2023 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| 2022 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 2020 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 17 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 2016 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Average | 10.5 | 4.6 | 1.1 | 0.3 |
A day counts when its rainfall total meets or passes the column amount, from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport records in GHCN-Daily. Every complete year starting with 1941 counts toward the average, 80 years in total.
Past rainfall years in Santa Barbara
All-time rainfall records
| Wettest day | 5.23 inches | Mar 20, 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Wettest year | 40.74 inches | 1983 |
| Driest year | 3.38 inches | 1947 |
| Average year | 15.71 inches | 80 complete years on record |
| Rain days a year | 36 | average, 0.01 inch or more |
| Record begins | 1941 | 30,194 daily readings |
Monthly rainfall normals
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inches | 3.84 | 3.86 | 3.10 | 0.91 | 0.42 | 0.11 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.07 | 0.73 | 1.27 | 2.91 | 17.25 |
Averages are 1991-2020 normals from NCEI.
The daily climate report is issued by the local National Weather Service forecast office and delivered to this page by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet of Iowa State University. Under 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright attaches to the government-produced figures on this page, including reports, alerts, station observations, and normals, which were created by the National Weather Service and other NOAA offices. The notice that 17 U.S.C. 403 requires appears in this sentence. It does not imply endorsement by or affiliation with those agencies. See: Data sources and attribution.