By Jerry Morgan, Reporter

It probably seems like the last month has been very wet, and it has. The Corps of Engineers at Proctor Lake recorded rainfall, or at least a trace of moisture, on 19 out of 31 days in May, and more than eight inches of total rainfall.

May 2007 was not our wettest May, however. In 1994 the rain total was an astounding 12.37 inches. Since the Corps began keeping weather records at Proctor Lake in 1964, four other May totals, in 1965, 1980, 1982 and 1987, have exceeded 9 inches of rain, making the 2007 total only the sixth highest in 43 years.

Thus far in 2007, 20.32 inches of rainfall have been recorded at Proctor Lake, an amount that is within a third of an inch of all the rain that fell in 2005, and within less than three inches of the 2006 total.

Although the last three months have all been wetter than average, most of the rest of the preceding 12 month period had below average rainfall. Thus the rolling 12 month total rainfall now stands at only 31.57 inches, very close to our area’s long term average.

So, even though we have gotten almost too much rain in recent weeks and months, we hear very few complaints as everyone has had plenty of experience with drought conditions in recent years.

The rainfall in the past 12 months: