by Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

The year 2015 went out with a triple bang of unusual weather, including high temperatures, thunderstorms and flooding.

Last week saw thunderstorms, lightning and high temperatures and this week has included heavy rains, tornado warnings and flooding as well as continued high temperatures.

Late Monday night and early Tuesday morning this week brought 4.45 inches of rain in Tryon, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), which also caused major flooding in many homes and roads.

Polk County Emergency Services Director Bobby Arledge said there were several roads that were impassable Monday night/Tuesday morning including River Road being impassable, Old Howard Gap Road being closed, Coxe Road being under water at Phillips Dairy Road and Carriage Row Road under water. There were trees down in several areas and many rivers and creeks were flowing over their banks.

Arledge said thankfully no evacuations were needed during Tuesday’s rains.

In Landrum, there were also flooded areas that were closed, including Hwy. 14 near the state line and major flooding at Caroland Farms on North Pacolet Road in Landrum.

The water also rose over the tops of docks at Lake Lanier.

Through Dec. 29, the area saw 13.85 inches of rainfall for the month, which is almost nine inches more than normal precipitation for the month. The month of December had the most rainfall of the year, with November the next highest rainfall for the year with a total of 10.13 inches, October with 9.87 inches and September with 9.35 inches of rain, according to the NWS.

Prior to heavy rains and flooding that came Oct. 1 this year, the area was 10 inches below normal rainfall for the year.

Tryon received 71.25 inches of rain for the year through Dec. 29. The normal for the year is 61.77 inches of rain, according to the NWS.

Other months in 2015, including January, February, March, May, June, July and August were below normal rainfall. May and July were well below normal rainfalls this year, with May barely receiving one inch of rain and July receiving 1.5 inches of rain.

January normally sees 5.10 inches of rain and this year only had 4.47 inches; February normally sees 4.86 inches and this year only had 3.53 inches; March normally has 5.76 inches and this year only had 3.08 inches; May normally has 4.57 inches and this year only had 1.04 inches; June normally has 5.38 inches and this year only had 4.73 inches; July normally has 5.27 inches and this year only had 1.59 inches and August normally has 6.18 inches and this year only had 3.38 inches, according to the NWS.

The month of April was the only month besides September, October, November and December to reach normal rainfall during 2015. April normally receives 4.58 inches of rain and this year received 6.23 inches of rain.

Unusual temperatures also made the month of December unusual, with the highest temperature for the month recorded on Dec. 27 at 77 degrees. Christmas day at 70 degrees was one of seven days in the month that reached or surpassed 70 degrees. Normal and average high temperatures in December are between 50-62 degrees. Lows are normally in the 30s and 40s in December.

While the sun came out Tuesday, rain was expected to continue through Wednesday, with an 80 percent chance of rain. Flood warnings continued this week.

The temperatures for January are expected to take a drastic turn from the warm December weather.

Temperatures are expected to drop to freezing this weekend and over the next couple of weeks high temperatures are not expected to be more than mid-to high 50s.

 

Rainfall by month 2000-2015

Year   Jan    Feb  March April             May   June    July    Aug   Sept   Oct              Nov   Dec   Total

2000	4.59	2.56	6.48	7.56	1.49	2.03	3.67	2.86	4.46	0.02	5.04	3.46	44.22
2001	3.11	3.36	7.56	0.99	4.94	7.25	8.98	4.36	10.56	1.60	2.58	3.84	59.13
2002	4.86	1.91	6.31	3.23	4.43	1.69	2.67	3.69	8.35	6.65	5.66	8.25	57.70
2003	2.33	5.69	8.56	7.87	11.72	8.03	12.11	9.68	3.27	3.04	6.17	4.82	83.29
2004	1.72	6.06	1.66	2.71	3.76	6.05	5.23	4.41	18.88	1.52	7.84	6.55	66.39
2005	2.94	3.42	5.99	5.33	4.75	13.07	10.13	4.64	0.52	5.53	3.73	5.49	65.54
2006	5.18	1.70	1.10	3.19	1.77	8.66	2.61	7.30	8.29	5.90	4.57	7.39	57.66
2007	6.82	2.50	5.83	2.88	2.13	2.85	2.88	1.24	2.74	3.29	2.43	6.97	42.56
2008	2.36	4.22	6.06	4.33	2.22	1.35	3.04	7.83	3.38	3.32	1.50	5.63	45.24
2009	3.93	1.72	7.99	4.75	7.72	3.88	2.08	4.74	10.09	6.33	7.35	9.77	70.35
2010	7.87	4.40	4.29	3.24	3.83	5.18	0.68	7.26	4.79	5.19	3.40	3.60	53.73
2011	2.29	2.60	11.35	5.10	3.41	3.89	1.12	5.27	6.21	2.71	6.05	6.82	56.82
2012	4.21	1.31	3.39	4.12	9.50	2.50	7.90	5.45	4.92	4.70	0.56	6.24	54.80
2013	9.17	4.48	4.85	7.69	11.30	9.25	20.05	6.72	2.96	1.90	5.90	7.85	92.12
2014	3.98	3.16	4.41	6.26	3.42	6.51	6.97	5.79	3.32	4.28	6.27	3.51	57.88
2015	4.47	3.53	3.08	6.23	1.04	4.73	1.59	3.38	9.35	9.87	10.13	13.85	71.25

*Note: Data for December was taken through Tuesday, Dec. 29. Dec. 30-31 totals are not included in this report.

 

 

 

Monthly normal precipitation (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

Total: 61.77 inches

 

 

 

December 2015 daily rain totals

2015-12-01	0.57
2015-12-02	1.74
2015-12-03	0.03
2015-12-04	0.00
2015-12-05	0.00
2015-12-06	0.00
2015-12-07	0.00
2015-12-08	0.00
2015-12-09	0.00
2015-12-10	0.00
2015-12-11	0.00
2015-12-12	0.00
2015-12-13	0.00
2015-12-14	0.14
2015-12-15	0.69
2015-12-16	0.00
2015-12-17	0.42
2015-12-18	0.47
2015-12-19	0.00
2015-12-20	0.00
2015-12-21	0.00
2015-12-22	0.76
2015-12-23	0.39
2015-12-24	2.02
2015-12-25	1.52
2015-12-26	0.35
2015-12-27	0.21
2015-12-28	0.09
2015-12-29	4.45
Sum	13.85
Normal	5.24