FOR RELEASE: Sept. 22, 1998
Contact: Blaine P. Friedlander, Jr. Office: (607) 255-3290 E-Mail: [email protected] Compuserve: Bill Steele, 72650,565 http://www.news.cornell.edu
ITHACA, N.Y. --The Northeast's three-month summer season (June through August) saw record-setting amounts of rainfall over parts of New England. Vermont alone received an excess of 6.24 inches of rain, or 152 percent of normal (the 30-year average from 1961-1990) for the three-month period, making it the wettest summer in the state this century.
According to the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University, Burlington, Vt., had its wettest summer on record, with 24.78 inches of rain beating the previous record 22.74 inches during the summer of 1892. With 15.26 inches of rain, New Hampshire reported its ninth wettest summer on record, and nature dropped 14.42 inches of rain on Rhode Island to give the state its 12th wettest summer.
In the 12-state Northeast region, summer saw 12.73 inches of rain, or 109 percent of normal. The Northeast's August precipitation of only 3.06 inches was 79 percent of normal, making it the region's 24th driest August on record.
"In some places it was wetter than normal, in other places drier, but everything this summer seems to have balanced out to very close to normal," says Keith Eggleston, a climatologist at the center.
Delaware and Maryland both reported over three-inch deficits of rain for the summer season. This represented just 71 percent of the normal rainfall for each state. For Maryland, it was the eighth driest summer on record and for Delaware, it was the 16th driest summer in the last 104 years.
During August, Maryland received 1.82 inches of rain, 45 percent of the state's normal rainfall, making it the seventh driest August there in 104 years.
New Weather Records
Daily Precipitation Records (inches)
City Date New Previous Burlington, Vt. 11th 3.62* 1.39 in 1995 Rochester, N.Y. 18th 1.38 1.24 in 1914 Rochester, N.Y. 25th 2.51 1.32 in 1892 Bridgeport, Conn. 26th 0.74 0.38 in 1967*Also record for month of August. Previous record was 3.59 inches set on Aug. 17, 1995.
Maximum Temperature Records (degrees Fahrenheit) City Date New Previous Caribou, Maine (tie) 8th 88 88 in 1995 Caribou, Maine 9th 90 89 in 1995 Caribou, Maine 10th 79 75 in 1997 Beckley, W.Va. (tie) 24th 87 87 in 1968 Reagan/National AP, Va. (tie) 25th 97 97 in 1968
Minimum Temperature Records (degrees F) City Date New Previous Binghamton, N.Y. 1st 49 50 in 1964 Elkins, W.Va. 2nd 46 46 in 1912 Baltimore 2nd 55 55 in 1952 Baltimore 3rd 55 55 in 1959 Albany, N.Y. 20th 45 46 in 1964 Binghamton, N.Y. 20th 45 47 in 1988 Wilkes Barre- Scranton, Pa. (tie) 20th 45 45 in 1944 Parkersburg, W.Va. 20th 50 51 in 1953 Baltimore 20th 49 54 in 1964
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