Heavy Rain/Storms Continue Today: Day #16 and Counting

Towering Cumulus over Lake Erie: Photo by Scott Sabol

Did the thunder wake you up last night/early this morning? We still have MORE rain and storms today then a HUGE break tomorrow and this weekend. The forecast today goes like this: Morning storms move out over the next several hours...a nice break as the temps climb into the high 80s with hazy sun late morning/midday. The area circled on the left side of the map below shows where the redevelopment will occur later this morning along the sweeping cold front.

That redevelopment will make it into Ohio this afternoon/early evening. Some of these storms will reach severe limits (winds of at least 58 mph and/or 3/4" hail) Areas especially in Richland/Ashland Counties that have already received 5"+ of rain over the last 2 days will have high water problems made worse by this afternoon noon's rainfall.

Here are the impressive rainfall numbers: 

July 9th marks the 15th straight day with at least a TRACE of rainfall at Hopkins Airport.

I scoured the rainfall records for JUNE through AUGUST of EVERY YEAR since 1900.  What I found was very surprising:

It's NEVER happened...EVER!

* The last time we had 14 straight days with at least a TRACE of rain was in 1928.

* The next in line, 11 straight days:  2004, 1961, 1935
* ...10 straight days: 1977, 1973, 1947, 1966

Its easier to count the years with small stretches of rain. Check this out:

76% OF THE SUMMER'S SINCE 1900 HAVE NEVER GONE MORE THAN 7 DAY STRAIGHT WITH RAINFALL!

Just how rainy has it been since this stretch started?  Here are the rain totals over the last 5 years over the same days. These are the official numbers at Hopkins. Some areas have received DOUBLE THESE AMOUNTS!

More later...