It’s official Friday night’s thunderstorms pushed July 2009’s rain total into the top 10 wettest months ever (or at least since 1895). NOAA lists July’s rainfall total at 10.52 inches, well in excess of the old record from July 1916 of 9.07 inches. By comparison normal Rainfall total for July is 3.17 inches. This might explain why basements all over Providence just won’t seem to dry out.
Here are the 20 wettest months sorted by rainfall total.
| Rank | Month | Year | Precipitation |
| 1 | October | 2005 | 14.63 |
| 2 | January | 1979 | 11.82 |
| 3 | June | 1998 | 11.5 |
| 4 | June | 1982 | 11.33 |
| 5 | April | 1983 | 11.19 |
| 6 | October | 1898 | 11.14 |
| 7 | June | 2006 | 11.07 |
| 8 | August | 1946 | 11.06 |
| 9 | July | 2009 | 10.52 |
| 10 | March | 2001 | 10.43 |
| 11 | August | 1955 | 10.21 |
| 12 | December | 1936 | 10.2 |
| 13 | November | 1983 | 9.82 |
| 14 | December | 1969 | 9.6 |
| 15 | September | 2008 | 9.51 |
| 16 | October | 1962 | 9.45 |
| 17 | September | 1961 | 9.39 |
| 18 | September | 1932 | 9.36 |
| 19 | July | 1916 | 9.07 |
| 20 | August | 1954 | 9.02 |
5 of the 15 wettest months on record have occurred in just the last 8 years. Maybe it’s Global Warming, maybe not, all I know for sure is that it feels like Global Wetting. Check out more interesting weather data at the NOAA website. You can also get the daily weather summary from NOAA each day. The upside of all this rain of course is that you don’t have to water your garden every day.
Happy gardening. -t