by Leah Justice

The month of July has seen almost two inches more rain than normal this year, which pales in comparison to July 2013 when the area saw 20.05 inches of rain total.

The normal rainfall for July is 5.27 inches, with this July accumulating 6.97 inches of rain as of Wednesday, July 30, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The totals for July do not include heavy rains that occurred yesterday, Thursday, July 31 with some flood watches in effect throughout the area.

This time last year roads were washing out throughout the county with some residents being trapped in their homes from flooding. Crops were damaged severely from heavy rains and flooding generally wreaked havoc in the area with an excessive amount of trees falling.

The most rain received in July last year occurred on July 5, 2013 when the area saw 2.87 inches that day, according to NWS records.

This year in general has been a normal year in terms of precipitation with the area not being in drought conditions for quite some time.

As of the end of July, a little more than halfway through the year, the area has accumulated 33.58 inches of rain with the normal for a year being 61.77 inches, according to NWS records. July has been the heaviest month of rain this year, recording 6.97 inches of rain total, compared to a 5.27-inch normal.

Normals are based on data taken between 1981 and 2010 from the NWS.

The next heaviest month this year occurred in June with 6.51 inches of rain recorded in Tryon, followed by April, with 6.26 inches, March with 4.41 inches, January with 3.98 inches, May with 3.42 inches and February with 3.16 inches, according to the NWS.

Tryon is on tract to reach its normal rainfall this year of almost 62 inches of rain, while other years have been abnormally off that mark (see chart for rain totals since 2000).

In the last 14 years, the most rainfall came last year with 92.12 inches of rain, approximately 30 inches more than normal. The least amount of rain received in the last 14 years occurred in 2007 with 42.56 inches of rain total, almost 20 inches below normal, according to the NWS.

Polk County has not been listed in any type of drought conditions since early January 2013, according to the N.C. Drought Advisory Council.

The only occurrences of dry conditions in the last year were recorded the weeks of Nov. 19 and Nov. 26, 2013, according to the N.C. Drought Advisory Council. January 1,5 2013 was the first Polk County was not listed in drought or abnormally dry conditions since October 2012 and has generally stayed out of drought and abnormally dry conditions since January 2013.

The last couple of weekends have seen heavy amounts of rain, with the most rain of the month occurring on July 25 with 1.72 inches of rain and the second highest amount received on July 19 with 1.57 inches of rain. Yesterday’s totals were not available as of press time.

 

Normal precipitation for Tryon (in inches)

January 5.10

February 4.86

March 5.76

April 4.58

May 4.57

June 5.38

July 5.27

August 6.18

September 5.38

October 4.65

November 4.80

December 5.24

 

Tryon rain totals
2000-2014 (in inches)

2000 44.22

2001 59.13

2002 57.70

2003 83.29

2004 66.39

2005 65.54

2006 57.66

2007 42.56

2008 45.24

2009             70.35*

2010 53.73

2011 56.82

2012 54.80

2013 92.12

2014           34.71**

 

* The 2009 figures from the National Weather Service are missing two days of the August rainfall.

** The 2014 totals are through July, as of Wednesday, July 30.

 

Record precipitation 

days in Tryon:

1. 9.05 inches on Oct. 25, 1918

2. 8.47 inches on Sept. 8, 2004

3. 7.50 inches on Aug. 15, 1928

4.  7.15 inches on Aug. 27, 1995 and Aug. 13, 1940

5.  6.85 inches on Aug. 18, 1986

 

Tryon weather facts:

υ On average, the warmest month is July

υThe highest record temperature was 105 degrees in 1964.

υ On average, the coolest month is January.

υ The lowest recorded temperature was  –24 degrees in 1957.

υThe maximum average precipitation occurs in August.

* data taken from weather.com.