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In 2019, Americans saw rain, rain
and more rain: The 12-month period
ending in June took the crown as the
wettest ever recorded in the contiguous
U.S. But that was the fourth time the record
had been broken in 2019 — the previous
12-month precipitation record had been
set in May, which had broken the record set
in April, which had broken the record set
in February. As climate change continues,
scientists fear these record-breaking wet
years could become more common.
According to the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, the skyover America poured almost 38 inches
of water between July 2018 and June
2019 — almost 8 inches above average,
according to the past 125 years of national
precipitation data.
Nearly the entire country experienced
above-average precipitation during the
first half of 2019. The excessive rainfall
meant trouble for farmers across the
Midwest, who had to delay planting
schedules while waiting for the ground
to dry out. According to the National
Agricultural Statistics Service, some of the
largest corn-producing states, like Indianaand Michigan, had only about two-thirds
of their crops planted in early June. In
contrast, nearly all corn crops were in the
ground by the same time the year before.
“It’s just been very wet across the whole
country,” says Laura Read, a hydrologist
with the National Center for Atmospheric
Research in Boulder, Colorado. “I just
wonder, will this be — I don’t want to call it
new normal, but — the way things move?
Will we look back and see this as the start
of some period of time where we have
more of these events coming through? I
don’t know.”Rain, Rain,
Here to Stay?
BY DANIEL BASTARDO BLANCO43
Below
averageNear
averageAbove
averageMuch
above
averageRecord
wettestMuch
below
averageThe contiguous U.S. saw record-breaking precipitation
in the 12 months from July 2018 to June 2019.