Hampton Roads officially broke into the top 10 wettest years on record with the recent heavy rainfall.
The region's 2009 rainfall total moved into the No. 6 spot, overtaking the 1937 amount of 59.7 inches, said Craig Moeller, meteorologist for WVEC-TV.
At 5 p.m. Wednesday, 60.75 inches of rain had been measured for the year in Norfolk, according to the National Weather Service in Wakefield.
“This is the most rain we’ve had since 2003,” Moeller said. That year, the National Weather Service measured 61.76 inches of rain at the Norfolk airport and ranked it the fifth wettest year.
It was just last Wednesday that the region’s 2009 total was in 11th place with 57.27. At that time, the 10th-wettest year was 1882, when 57.67 inches had been measured.
The wettest year on record was 1889 when 70.72 inches of rain was measured in Norfolk, according to the National Weather Service.
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It rained over the weekend..
It rained over the weekend.. Can we have a update on the record?
Time left
We still have 22 days left in the year. How much more rain can we get?
Wet
Must be that global warming....
Here comes the flood...
I guess it's time to build the Ark...can't we just have nice sunny 72 degree weather all the time...oh, yeah, I forgot this is Hampton Roads (not known for great weather)...
Yes But Something tells me the rain Measurements
Were not being done out at the airport in 1882. I'm just guessing that measurements taken in 1882 were taken much closer to downtown Norfolk. I have watched the radar of storms passing through over the years and there are many times that particularly rainy cells pass over downtown Portsmouth and Norfolk and then pass over Ghent and Ocean View and miss the airport by a few miles. And the local weather watchers do record quite a bit of variance in rainfall totals when storms pass through. Routinely the measurements recorded at the airport never seem to record the full amount of rain that any given storm delivered. I'm willing to bet that rain gauges at the Norfolk and Southern Coal Piers or Craney Island receive 5 to 10 inches more per year than the airport. It would be very interesting to see what the official measurements were for the Norfolk Naval Station. In any event we definitely have had a very rainy year.
WATER SHORTAGE
Well, one good thing about the rain, We shouldn't have any water shortage any time soon.Just be thankful that it is rain and not snow. The ducks love it. I love a rainy day. It gives me a good excuse to refrain from yard work !