You may have noticed that September has been dry in Ohio — and that your weekend plans have been mostly uninterrupted by rain.
But was September really that dry? And will late-month rains turn that around?
Columbus, Cincinnati both well below average rainfall in September
Both of the largest cities in the National Weather Service Wilmington office, Columbus and Cincinnati, have both seen around two inches less rainfall than usual to date in the month of September.
As of Sept. 27, Columbus was only at .29 inches of rainfall, nearly two and a half inches below the September average of 2.7 inches. Cincinnati, on the other hand, has had slightly more rainfall — .79 inches — but that is still also nearly two inches below the monthly average of 2.69 inches.
Late September rains will bring relief, but will remain below average
In the next several days, southwestern and central Ohio could see a quarter to a full inch of rain, the NWS said.
In southwestern Ohio, including Dayton and Cincinnati, the NWS is warning that thunderstorms are expected Wednesday afternoon and evening. Some storms may produce large hail and damaging winds and could generate up to an inch of precipitation.
In Columbus, the rains may not be as heavy Wednesday into Thursday, but residents could still expect up to an quarter-inch of precipitation.
An NWS representative said that while its unlikely that late-month rains will make up the ground for the month, the region is still on-average for annual rainfall.
NWS was anticipating a drier September
The National Weather Service anticipated earlier this month that September would bring a drier-than-average month to much of the central and southwestern Ohio.
On Sept. 15, the NWS reported that much of western, northwestern and parts of southern Ohio were considered “abnormally dry,” the lowest classification of drought classification.
Source : Dispatch
