Los Angeles Gets Its First Wet Halloween Since 2014 as Storm Drops Half an Inch Downtown

Gauges in the San Gabriel Valley and foothills topped 2 inches by Sunday morning. Showers taper off today, county health officials warn swimmers out of the ocean through Tuesday, and a dry, warmer week follows.

By Herald Staff · Nov. 1, 2026, 8:30 AM ET

Dark gray storm clouds part over the downtown Los Angeles skyline, its towers lit gold by low sun, with a faint rainbow descending on the left, mountains in shadow behind and a domed building and treetops in the foreground. — A rainbow forms over downtown Los Angeles as storm clouds break, in a 2012 photo. Downtown recorded half an inch of rain on Halloween 2026, its first measurable Halloween rain since 2014. Photo: Kevin Wong (cropped) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (license).

Los Angeles finally got its wet Halloween. Downtown Los Angeles recorded half an inch of rain on Saturday, Oct. 31, according to the National Weather Service's daily climate report, as a Pacific storm arrived just as costumed children headed out for candy. It was the city's first measurable Halloween rain since 2014, when a quarter-inch fell, NBC Los Angeles reported.

The total fell well short of downtown's record for the date, 1.64 inches in 1927, but it was 25 times the normal Oct. 31 amount of two-hundredths of an inch. The airports caught less: 0.24 inch at Los Angeles International Airport, 0.27 inch at Long Beach Airport and 0.13 inch at Hollywood Burbank Airport, according to the weather service's climate summaries for the day.

The Foothills Got the Most

The heaviest rain came overnight, after most trick-or-treaters were home. Preliminary 24-hour totals through 5 a.m. Sunday, compiled by the weather service from automated gauges, showed 2.77 inches at Walnut Creek and 2.11 inches at Mount Olive High School in the San Gabriel Valley, 1.84 inches at the Eagle Rock Reservoir, 1.78 inches at the Hollywood Reservoir and 1.53 inches in East Pasadena. Monte Nido, in the Santa Monica Mountains, collected 1.51 inches.

Closer to the basin floor, downtown's 24-hour total reached 0.69 inch, Culver City got 0.94 inch and Beverly Hills 0.37 inch. The San Fernando Valley and the high desert ran lighter, with 0.31 inch in Canoga Park, 0.19 inch at the Chatsworth Reservoir and about a tenth of an inch in Palmdale and Lancaster. The weather service cautions that the gauge readings are provisional and have not been verified.

That largely matched expectations. In its Saturday evening forecast discussion, the weather service's Los Angeles office said most places should expect a quarter-inch to three-quarters of an inch through Sunday afternoon, with 1 to 2 inches possible under heavier showers, and noted that models had kept the storm's heaviest rain south of Los Angeles County.

Candy, Rain or Shine

The weather did not clear the sidewalks. In Studio City, light rain greeted children and parents after dark, and many kept umbrellas up as they went from door to door, CBS News Los Angeles reported. "I think it will add to the ambiance of the spookiness and the darkness," resident Brianna Bermudez told the station. Tyler McGarry, who said he had about 1,500 pieces of candy ready, made one concession to the forecast: "We have set up an umbrella this year, which we don't normally do."

Light rain was still falling at 4 a.m. Sunday in Burbank, Van Nuys, Santa Monica and Long Beach, with temperatures in the upper 50s and low 60s, according to the weather service's regional weather roundup. The forecast for the coast and downtown called for rain likely in the morning and only a slight chance of showers in the afternoon, with highs of 65 to 71 degrees and west winds gusting to 25 mph, according to the weather service's planning forecast. A small craft advisory covers parts of the coastal waters Sunday as gusty winds follow the storm.

Stay Out of the Ocean

Beachgoers should stay dry a little longer. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has declared an ocean water quality rain advisory for every county beach through at least Tuesday, Nov. 3, and urges people to avoid water contact for at least 72 hours after rainfall. Runoff from streets and mountain areas can carry bacteria, chemicals, debris and trash into the surf, especially near storm drains, creeks and rivers, and people who go in could become ill, MyNewsLA reported. The advisory may be extended if more rain falls. Recorded beach conditions are available around the clock at 1-800-525-5662.

A Dry Week Ahead

Showers are expected to end by Sunday evening. A ridge of high pressure and weak offshore winds should bring dry, warmer weather on Monday, the weather service said, with any offshore gusts expected to stay below advisory levels. Tuesday may be a degree or two warmer, and forecasters described the rest of the week as "benign," with dry conditions through Saturday and more warming late in the week.

The storm capped an unusually wet October downtown. The month ended with 1.19 inches, about twice the normal of 0.58 inch, though still behind the 1.41 inches measured by this point last year. For the calendar year, downtown remains 1.71 inches below normal, with 9.28 inches since Jan. 1. The Halloween storm arrived on the heels of a week of record high tides that flooded streets along the Southern California coast, and of forecasts that had warned for days that this year's holiday could be a wet one.

Original reporting by The Los Angeles Herald, drawing on the National Weather Service, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, CBS News Los Angeles, NBC Los Angeles and MyNewsLA, as linked above.