A month of records in Baltimore
The heaviest rain is moving off to the northeast, but here the drip goes on. We have another half-inch of rain in our rain gauge this morning here at Calvert and Centre streets. That's about what they've receive down at BWI, too. But the airport is well ahead of downtown Baltimore in total rain for the month to date. And they could be headed for a record-wet May.
Chris Strong, the NWS warning coordination meteorologist out at the Sterling forecast office, reports this morning that BWI received 6.17 inches of rain between May 1 and midnight last night. Since then the airport has recorded another .56 inch. That's 6.73 inches in all. And it's only the 16th of May. (The long-term average for May in Baltimore is 3.89 inches.)
Here are some other measurements across the region. Some spots have seen more than an inch.
The record precipitation for a May in Baltimore was 8.71 inches, set back in May 1989. So if we can squeeze out another 2 inches in the next 15 days we'll have a new record.
"It's possible .... 8.71 inches certainly wouldn't be out of the question," Strong said.
Why not? We're already well ahead of the pace when compared with May 1989. In that month, the airport had recorded 5.52 inches by May 16. We've seen 6.73 inches - the most ever here for the first 16 days in May, Strong said.
The creeks are rising again. Here's the streamflow map.
And it's been a month of records. Consider:
May 9: Record rainfall for the date - 1.85 inches. That beat the 1.41 inches that fell on the date in 1919.
May 11: Record rainfall for the date - 1.49 inches. That was more than the previous record of 1.28 inches set on May 11, 1924.
May 12: A record low maximum temperature. The thermometer at BWI reached just 50 degrees Monday afternoon. The previous record was 51 degrees, set way back, on May 12, 1882. The previous record at BWI, where official observations began in 1950, was 57 degrees, set on May 12, 1960.
May 12: Record rainfall for the date - 2.20 inches, besting the 2.06 inches that fell in 1921.
Forecasters are warning of scattered or isolated thunderstorms this afternoon as a new low moves across the region from Kentucky. "Locally damaging winds are possible," he said. Here's the forecast.
Things should start clearing up tonight. Temperatures could fall to the 40s in many locations as clouds depart and what heat we have is radiated into space.
There's a mostly sunny day in store for Saturday. But get your outdoor activities done on Saturday, because Saturday night and Sunday will get drippy again, with a 30 percent chance of showers. Monday will be better, but there are (still) more showers in the forecast for the first half of next week as a new low moves in.
You prayed for rain last October. This is it.
Oh, and by the way ... the new Drought Monitor map is in and yes, the drought is officially over, even down on the Lower Eastern Shore, where it had held on until this past weekend's rains washed it all away.
Now, the map shows only "abnormally dry" conditions on the southern Delmarva and extreme Southern Maryland on the Western Shore. The national map shows that "severe" to "extreme" drought conditions continue to our south and west, in the southern Appalachians.
