The latest series of storms brought the total since Oct. 1 at the hospital to 40.39 inches into Sunday, records show. It’s only the seventh time in records dating to 1892 that rainfall there has broken the 40-inch barrier.

But reaching the rain season record of 50.19 inches set in 1982-83 seems out of reach, given fewer storms typically hit as spring wears on.

“I think the heart of the rain season is over,” National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Mejia said on Monday. “There could be a couple more storm systems that produce rain. But I think the main rain season has passed.”

Napa State Hospital averages about 25 inches of rain annually, a total that this season was passed about two months ago. The National Weather Service measures the rain year from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, with little, if any, rain falling during the summer.

So here’s to the fading, drought-busting 2016-17 rain year. It produced such memorable local images as Lake Berryessa pouring down its glory hole spillway for the first time in a decade, rural roads being swallowed by sliding mud and the new, downtown Napa flood bypass helping to keep a swollen Napa River within its banks.

All of this happened not during an El Nino year, when meteorologists typically expect plenty of rain. Instead, ocean temperatures in the Pacific Ocean at the equator at times leaned toward weak La Nina conditions, usually not the harbinger of monster storms.

“That flew in the face of common knowledge,” said Mike Pechner of Fairfield-based Golden West Meteorology. “There are going to be folks poring over all this stuff. Before they get to their conclusions, I’m going to say it’s part of climate change.”

As often happens during big rain years, the county was swamped by atmospheric river storms nicknamed the Pineapple Express. A plume of moisture from the Hawaii area gave storms that extra burst of water.

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