El Centro, California higher than normal precipitation, at times bringing heavy rain. The precipitation in the Winter months is predominantly rain showers from the occasional winter storms. At times these storms bring cold temperatures to El Centro and surrounding cities, and mountain snowfall to the nearby Mountains. Snow is almost totally unknown in the town, except for a powerful winter storm that covered the entire valley with 4 inches snow on December 12, 1934 and a very brief fall of sleet mixed with hail during a shower in December 1967. On average there are about 15 days that dip into the mid to
Hail hailstones, described as between the size of bumble bees and ping pong balls, were accompanied by rain and high winds. The hail fell in only the one area, leaving the surrounding area untouched. It fell for one and a half hours between 10 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. A meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Boulder said, "It's a very interesting phenomenon. We saw the storm stall. It produced copious amounts of hail in one small area. It's a meteorological thing." Tractors used to clear the area filled more than 30 dump-truck loads of hail. Research focused on four individual