Rain: the Haves and Have Nots…

The talk of the last few days of summer this year was of the flooding rainfall that stretched from northern Georgia into the western Carolinas.  Three-day totals of nearly twenty inches were reported near Atlanta, where flooding fatalities were reported.  Nearly a foot of rain fell in the same timeframe in parts of the Carolina mountains. 

The rain certainly made its mark on the yearly rainfall total for Asheville, with near-normal rain for the year going into the wet stretch…changing to over five inches above normal after the few days of heavy rain.

Even with all the talk of heavy rain and flooding, a sizeable portion of the Upstate has not seen drought relief, even with this stormy weather pattern.  As of the morning of Tuesday, September 22, the GSP rain totals were about seven and three-quarters of an inch below normal for the year…compare that to a bit above eight inches down before the rains came.  This is typical of the impact for many locations south and east of the I-85 corridor; the heavy rains never quite made it far enough to the southeast to alleviate the drought conditions.

So while may are hoping for a nice, long stretch of sunny and dry weather, still others need this period of wet weather to continue.  Let’s just hope for a little more moderation in any of the heavier downpours…