A Very Wet July So Far

We have not even reached the middle of the month, yet some places in Western Kentucky have recorded nearly 14" so far. A few locations are closing in on a foot of rain.

This morning and early afternoon, Calhoun in McClean County has received nearly 5 and a half inches since midnight, easily doubling their total coming into today of 5.27".

A compact shield of moderate to heavy rain continues to lumber along a west to east, maybe slightly north of east, line from near Evansville through Owensboro and Tell City IN and approaching the Louisville area.

It will be interesting to see how this shield holds together or if it will weaken. However, additional storms are backbuilding to the west and may train over areas to the tune of 2-3" of rain with locally heavier amounts in thunderstorms along the Ohio River in Louisville. We might be testing the Flash Flood guidance for a 3-hour period, which should be running in the 3" range.

I think I would issue a Watch for the area anyway, just as a precautionary measure, especially for points just south and west of the area that have received heavier rainfall during the past few days.

MS

MikJournal Monday July 4 Edition

Good morning. While July rainfall is always welcome for us gardeners, too much of a good thing can even happen in July, especially on a holiday like the 4th.

Louisville has recorded 2 of its top ten wettest July days ever on the 4th...

1896...5.04" (#2)
1984...4.60"(#3)

Speaking of the year 1896, another top ten wettest July day occurred on the 21st at 3.41", a very wet month overall at 13.01".

In 1984 on this date, Louisville received 4.26" during a 4-hour period from about 2:00 - 6:00 in the morning which caused some minor flooding issues. At least there weren't too many traffic issues thanks to the holiday.

Also, a thunderstorm wind gust of 49 mph was recorded at Standiford Field causing scattered power outages throughout the county and totalling one car when a tree toppled onto it.

Therefore, while another soggy and stormy 4th is expected across the region, hopefully, record rainfall amounts and severe weather will be kept to a minimum.

For Louisville, a minimum of 3.12" would need to occur today for a top ten wettest July day on record.

However, if we become stuck in this pattern of heavy rain, we could be talking about top ten wettest July months on record...again.

Here are the required minimums to achieve a top ten wettest July ever...

Louisville...7.33" (we had 8.65" in July of last year)
Lexington...8.01" (we had 9.66" in July of last year)
Bowling Green...8.23"

Thanks in part to the Storm Data Publication from the NCDC, now a part of the NCEI, the National Centers for Environmental Information.

MS