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       A powerful coastal storm that flooded shorelines, unleashed heavy rain and generated gusty winds from Florida to New England from Sunday into early Monday dumped 2 to 3.5 inches of rain across the D.C. area, where recent rainfall totals have now reached record territory. The heavy rain continues what’s become a wetter trend after the region flirted with drought at times this year.

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       While the rain had exited Monday morning, a wind advisory was in effect for most of the D.C. region into Monday afternoon. Wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph could knock down a few trees, already vulnerable because of the saturated ground, and cause isolated power outages. Peak wind gusts through midday Monday had reached 45 mph at Reagan National Airport.

       Minor flooding of creeks, streams and rivers was reported in the District and Fairfax and Montgomery counties. Record flood stages were reported at Little Bull Run in Prince William County and in Brentwood, on the Anacostia River in Prince George’s County. Several road closures were also reported across the region, along with a water rescue near Brookeville in Montgomery County.

       Most spots within about a one-county radius of the District saw about 2 to 2.5 inches, while a few locations, mainly east of D.C. and Interstate 95, recorded nearly or more than 3 inches. Rain totals were lower to the west toward the mountains, mainly near or below 1 inch, and higher on the Eastern Shore, where 3 to 5 inches was common.

       Rain totals in the D.C. and Baltimore area included:

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       Birdsville, Md.: 3.48 inches Glenelg, Md.: 3.30 inches Upper Marlboro, Md.: 3.12 inches Ellicott City, Md.: 3.02 inches Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport : 2.70 inches Laurel, Md.: 2.69 inches Great Falls, Va.: 2.64 inches Silver Spring, Md.: 2.63 inches Reagan National Airport: 2.41 inches Dulles International Airport: 2.27 inches Manassas, Va.: 1.73 inches

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       Had it been cold enough, those amounts of precipitation would have translated to about 15 to 30 inches of snow.

       There were some pockets of power outages reported as of late Monday morning, with Charles County reporting the most, according to poweroutages.us, but far less than the hundreds of thousands of outages in New England, where winds were gusting over 50 mph.

       This was the second weekend in a row with heavy rain in and around D.C. On. Dec. 10, 1 to 3 inches of rain fell before the rain changed to snow that night, leaving a light, slushy coating that was enough to delay a few school systems the following morning.

       The weather pattern has turned much wetter recently for much of the East Coast, from the Carolinas to southern New England, with about 6 to 10 inches of rain having fallen in the past month in the D.C. region. That’s two to three times as much as normal for the period.

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       The 7.39 inches of rain at Reagan National Airport since Nov. 20 is Washington’s second-wettest 30-day period on record at this time of year dating to 1871, according to Capital Weather Gang’s Ian Livingston. The wettest was 7.47 inches in 1993.

       It wasn’t long ago that the D.C. region was dealing with significant drought. As of mid-June, the region was running 7 to 9 inches drier than normal since the beginning of the year, with much of the area classified under moderate drought, according to the federal drought monitor. A relatively wet July, August and September alleviated the dry conditions before an unusually dry October brought back drought concerns.

       Even with the recent rains, precipitation is still running about 3 to 8 inches below average for the year across the region, and as much as 10 to 12 inches below average in portions of western Virginia, northwest Maryland and Pennsylvania, where rainfall totals were lower for this most recent storm, mainly about 1 to 1.5 inches.

       After what looks to be a mostly dry week and upcoming weekend, another coastal storm could bring more precipitation — as of now, probably in the form of rain again — shortly after Christmas. Alas, forecasts of a brown Christmas, rather than white, look to be holding true.

       Ian Livingston contributed to this report.

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