Stats: East Soggy Summer of 2013 Continues

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

August 2,2013; 10:29AM,EDT

 

 

For many areas of the East, this summer will be remembered for being more than unusually wet.
It has been a busy summer for showers and thunderstorms from parts of the Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic coast, which has resulted in record rainfall in some locations and there is still just shy of a month of meteorological summer to go.
It is already the wettest summer on record at Philadelphia with close to 25 inches of rain, shattering the old record of 24.58 spanning June, July and August of 2011. The site also recently set their wettest calendar day on record. (Records date back to 1872.)
This map shows the approximate areas where summer rainfall has been excessive and the ground is wet as of the start of August during 2013.
The wet weather has delayed many ballgames, caused extensive travel problems and has created a financial burden for some communities, as well as home and business owners due to the damage from flooding.
It was so wet in Richmond that a helicopter was called in to dry out the Redskins' training camp facility on Friday, Aug. 2, 2013, according to the Washington Post.
Business is booming for grass cutting operations. The rainfall has contributed a very green landscape with a nearly constant sound of lawn mowers buzzing around neighborhoods. In some cases, it has been difficult for farmers to get into the fields.
According to Long Range Weather Expert Paul Pastelok, "We expect incidents of heavy rain and flash flooding to continue during August, but we should begin to see more isolated problems, rather than regional issues as the month progresses."
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Lengthening nights and a lower sun angle result in lower evaporation rates. As a result, the soil will not be in a great hurry to dry out after rain events.
Pastelok and others have expressed concern about the saturated ground in some areas and the potential for a tropical system to come calling with heavy rain later in the month or during September.
"It is impossible to say this far in advance exactly where such a system would hit with the greatest impact," Pastelok stated.

Rainfall (Inches) June 1 to August 1, 2013

Location	Actual	Average
Philadelphia	25.12	7.91
Dover, Del.	16.96	8.23
Roanoke, Va.	19.33	7.98
Cleveland, Ohio.	12.87	7.01
Orlando	22.85	16.11
Miami	18.88	16.41
Augusta, Ga.	19.97	9.20
Atlanta	18.05	9.35
Nashville	11.08	7.88
Columbia, S.C.	17.94	10.34
Charlotte, N.C.	14.83	7.56
Montgomery, Ala.	14.24	9.45
Concord, N.H.	13.80	7.55
Albany, N.Y.	14.09	8.04

There have been a few pockets in the Eastern states, where the rain has been less common. Part of the mid-Atlantic and southeastern New England is one area. Other areas in the East with near- to below-average rainfall include portions of the lower Mississippi Valley and the Midwest.