Wettest year on record in Philadelphia; 2011 sets record for wet/dry extremes in U.S.
This year is now the wettest year in nearly 200 years of record keeping in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A large, wet low pressure system soaked the Northeast U.S. on Wednesday and early Thursday, bringing 2.31 inches of rain to the City of Brotherly Love, bringing this year's precipitation total in Philly to 62.26 inches. This breaks the old yearly precipitation record of 61.20 inches, set in 1867. In a normal year, Philadelphia receives about 40 inches. According to wunderground's weather historian Christopher C. Burt, this is one of the most difficult U.S. city records to break, since rainfall records in Philadelphia go back to 1820. The only other sites with a longer continuous precipitation record in the U.S. are Charleston, SC (1738 -) and New Bedford, MA (1816 -).
Figure 1. Departure of precipitation from average for 2011, as of December 6, 2011. Image credit: NOAA/HPC.
20+ inches above average precipitation in Ohio Valley, Northeast
Philadelphia is not alone in setting a wettest year in recorded history mark in 2011. Over a dozen major cities in the Ohio Valley and Northeast have set a new wettest year record, or are close to doing so. Thanks to rains associated with this year's tremendous tornado outbreaks in April in May, plus exceptionally heavy summer thunderstorm rains, combined with rains from Tropical Storm Lee and Hurricane Irene, portions of at least twelve states have seen rains more than twenty inches above average during 2011.
The fraction of the country covered by extremely wet conditions (top 10% historically) was 32% during the period January through November, ranking as the 2nd highest such coverage in the past 100 years. And if you weren't washing away in a flood, you were baking in a drought in 2011--portions of sixteen states had precipitation more than twenty inches below average (Figure 1.) The fraction of the country covered by extremely dry conditions (top 10% historically) was 22% during the period January through November, ranking as the 8th highest in the past 100 years. The combined fraction of the country experiencing either severe drought or extremely wet conditions was 56% averaged over the January - November period--the highest in a century of record keeping. Climate change science predicts that if the Earth continues to warm as expected, wet areas will tend to get wetter, and dry areas will tend to get drier--so this year's side-by-side extremes of very wet and very dry conditions should grow increasingly common in the coming decades.
Figure 2. Percentage of the contiguous U.S. either in severe or greater drought (top 10% dryness) or extremely wet (top 10% wetness) during the period January - November, as computed using NOAA's Climate Extremes Index. Remarkably, more than half of the country (56%) experienced either a top-ten driest or top-ten wettest year, a new record. Image credit: NOAA/NCDC.
Unofficial state yearly precipitation record set in Ohio
The Wilmington, Ohio NWS office announced last week that three stations in Southwest Ohio had unofficially broken the 140-year old state yearly precipitation record. Cheviot, Miamitown, and Fernbank have recorded 73.81", 71.89", and 70.85", respectively so far in 2011, beating the old record of 70.82" set at Little Mountain in 1870. According to wunderground's weather historian Christopher C. Burt, the old record should be 72.08” at Mt. Healthy, Ohio in 1880.
Wunderground's weather historian Christopher C. Burt summarizes the global weather extremes in November in his latest post.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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Aussie, interesting video. I really think one of the main goals should be to reduce the number of false warnings. We'd always have to go down and clear the beach for every warning and, except for a two or three inch rise in ocean level, nothing would happen. That made it much harder to convince to people to get off the beach next time, and we only have a relatively small number of deputies and park rangers for over 100 miles of coastline. We have one area in Sonoma County, CA, where the Russian River meets the Pacific. It's one of the most popular beaches and it's packed on weekends. The trouble is that geologists tell us that, given the offshore topgraphy, the delta area would be subject to a 20-22 foot tsunami under the right conditions. We do our best to clear the area, but everyone just goes back in behind us. If we had to do this less often, and could tell people there was a high probability they'd be killed if they stayed there, that would really help. Right now, no one believes they are in any real danger and we are just being annoying.
That's what cracks me up, we have to do this do that to stop AGW, do people not understand....there is no money to do anything anymore! bottom line is....we're all going to die.
I live in Prattville Alabama, about 10 miles from Montgomery, the state capital. Gets a little warm in the summer (!) but the winters are usually pleasant. After 35 years in California, this is really a nice place by comparison. People are still decent and courteous, and they won't just step over you if you're lying on the sidewalk. I've been here almost six years and really like it.
Exactly.....We have Spent to the limits.....!!!! Its not to hard to understand as a Country and world, you can't keep spending more than you take in.....What is next! TAX US TO DEATH....then we Die!
Nothing is going to be done, just hunker down and watch....
Anti-Global-Warming
or
Angry-Global-Whiners........LOL
AGW stands for Anthropogenic (man-caused) Global Warming. This is really not a very precise term, since the real issue is climate change, and warming is just part of climate change. I guess it should really be ACC, but AGW has been more or less adoped on both sides of the issue.
Thanks for the kind words about geezers, but I'm afraid I know nothing about farm equipement. :) I do know a lot about model trains, though, and have a fair size model railroad that keeps me busy. I'm also a ham radio operator, and enjoy talking to people from around the world - actual talking, not texting or e-mailing. It's a little more of a challenge.
i think-for fact- the first definiton is the truth :D
go to my youtube channel and u find a vid i took up close to a Atlantic & Western diesel passing by. i had adreneline pumpin lol. here
Link to da vid :D
(i am amature video maker so dont expect something worthy of a show lol, but its decent)
Afraid SO....Europe is about to Collapse big time and Nothing can save it.....it takes the world with it! Everyone depends so much now on other Countries for exports and imports. When this all goes because the inability of Credit then all stops. Its gonna be a changed world very soon. Some fear more extreme than others but, things won't goes as status Qua in 2012!
Something to seriously think about is IRAN and its NUKES....this is gonna throw a big wrinkle in the Global problems coming this spring very soon....STAY TUNED!
BT Weather....chances don't look great for a White Christmas for the MidWest and NorthEast.
Those day-to-day weather patterns are very fluid and have a tremendous impact on the strength and track of a specific storm
This is going to be "nice" in Europe ...
BBC-Video-forecast
More later, greetings, I have to go.
Is that your email, posted on your site?
Any questions or comments, email me at joniscoolman@yahoo.com .
Link
yes dats it. i got another one thats privatem but yes thats my email that ANYBODY can email me :D
i named it that cuz before i had an account here years ago, i saw a member titled 'jasoniscoolman' and i thought that was funny, so i made am email like that:D didnt copy, was inspired lol
Dr Masters may want to evaluate the people that he has given admin authority to.
Is this accurate, as a simple summary:
"Warmer temperatures accelerate evaporation in the SW. Prevailing winds blow that moisture-laden air eastward, resulting in heavier precipitation in the NE."
If now, how would your refine that statement?
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