If you think it’s been wetter than usual, you’re right.
The 5.33 inches that fell in August was nearly double the average of 2.78 inches for that month during the past 30 years, according to Geri Swanson, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Juneau.
“You had rain almost every day, but it wasn’t an extreme amount,” Swanson said. The record for precipitation here in August is 13.69 inches, set in 1956, she said. Rain fell on all but seven days of the month, which is about normal, she said.
September also is off to a wetter-than-average start, including a record rainfall Monday, when 2.1 inches fell, eclipsing the daily record for Sept. 5, 1.76 inches, set in 1991.
Total rainfall for September through Monday – 2.64 inches – was approaching half the monthly total average of 6.23 inches, Swanson said.
August’s rainiest day in Haines was Saturday, Aug. 20, when 1.34 inches fell. That was considerably less than elsewhere in Southeast, including 4.54 inches in Petersburg and 5.42 inches in Port Alexander. “It was a crazy day that day,” Swanson said.