Rain, Rain, Go Away… But has it really been as wet as we think this year?

Given the wet June so far, it is not surprising that I have heard several people claim that this has been a very wet year. After all, it is easier to recall the most recent weather than that of January, February, March, April, and May. So where do we stand for the year so far with regard to normal precipitation? It turns out that the rainfall from Tropical Storm Andrea (4 to 6 inches) actually put many locations that had been quite a bit below normal to just above normal.

The year-to-date totals (as of June 11) for a few local climate locations below:

Islip: 21.99” (0.73” above normal)

LGA: 21.09” (1.84” above normal)

JFK: 19.45” (0.54” above normal)

Bridgeport, CT: 20.30” (0.86” above normal)

Here is where these locations were as of May 31 before this very wet June:

Islip: 15.35” (4.11” below normal)

LGA: 14.41” (3.28” below normal)

JFK: 13.25” (4.09” below normal)

Bridgeport, CT: 13.60” (4.27” below normal)

Looking at the long-term climate data from Central Park, NY, we see that nine of the wettest ten years have occurred in the past thirty years and four of the wettest years ever have occurred in the past ten years. Unfortunately, this trend for wetter years is a sign of the future.

As humans keep dumping billions of tons of heat-trapping gases into the air every year, our planet is warming. That means more evaporation from the surface causing the atmosphere to become wetter. (Dry places such as southwestern US and California will experience increased drought due to this increased evaporation). Precipitation-causing weather patterns favor the northeastern US. When this water eventually falls back to the surface, it will do so in heavier bursts. New Yorkers are entering a new normal where we have prolonged periods of drier weather punctuated by periods of heavy rains. This is not what society is adapted to so the bottom line is that New Yorkers will see increased costs if we do not begin to rapidly reduce our fossil fuel (coal, oil, natural gas) emissions.

BTW, another big rainmaker is headed our way for Thursday. Ugh.