Monday, August 9, 2010

Wet & Wild Summer

The talk around town has definitely been all the rain we've been getting this summer!  The wet conditions have prevented farmers from being in the fields,  caused area creeks and rivers to run high or out of their banks, and have led to optimum breeding conditions for mosquitoes.  This may have you wondering, how exactly does this summer compare to normal as far as precipitation?  Well, below is listed some Wisconsin cities and the precipitation they've seen so far this year, along with the normal climatological values for precipitation in the same time frame.
          City                            2010            Normal        Departure
  1. La Crosse                17.20"            9.37"           7.83"
  2. Milwaukee               18.16"            8.18"           9.98"
  3. Madison                  17.38"            9.10"            8.28"
  4. Green Bay               17.11"            7.83"            9.28"
  5. Wausau                   16.66"            9.42"            7.24"
As you can see, most of these areas have seen almost twice the normal amount of rainfall so far this summer!  In fact, La Crosse is currently having it's 2nd wettest summer through 7 A.M., August 8th and it's 12th wettest summer on record. If La Crosse receives another 3.12" of rain by the end of August (0.11" of rain already fell this morning after the climatological data came out, so its is now down to 3.01"), 2010 will go down as the wettest summer ever in the city!

So now with saturated soils all across the state, any rain that does fall over the area will quickly run off.  This is likely to cause some flooding issues along creeks and river beds.  It could also trigger some mudslides, especially across the hills and bluffs of Western Wisconsin.  That means that during this time of very wet weather, keep an eye on your surroundings, especially if you live near a body of water or along a hill side.  Take precautions now to prepare for such events!

No comments:

Post a Comment