A Rain Record
By Steven Strouss
As of today, 2011 is the officially the wettest year ever in Philadelphia. The Phila Intl. airport received .66 inches of rain as of 6pm, and that number is still growing. This puts the new record at 56.80" for the year, breaking the old record of 56.47" set back in 1996.
The high rain amount this year is the result of extreme weather events which have mainly occurred in the last four months. Since August, the Delaware Valley has sustained flooding rainfall from Hurricane Irene, remnants of Tropical Storm Lee and a rare October Nor'easter that brought the first snowflakes of the season to many locations. Now, a low pressure system riding along a slow moving cold front is bringing us more substantial rain but flooding is not a high concern this time around. Rain will continue overnight before tapering off as showers tomorrow. If you feel water logged consider this.....
Hilo, Hawaii is the wettest city in the U.S. with an average annual rainfall above 125 inches. Among the 48 contiguous states, the wettest location is Quillayute, Washington, with an average annual rainfall above 100 inches.
We will not see annual rainfall amounts in this region near those extreme numbers but with a month and a half still to go, and more rain in the forecast, it is looking highly likely that the 2011 record will drown all others for a long, long time.
