May ending as it began ... wet
A stalled front across the mid-Atlantic states, persistent showers and thunderstorms, enough rain to cause flooding ... May appears to be going out the same way it came in.
Rain totals for May at BWI-Marshall were already closing in on 5 inches late yesterday, and may well have topped that mark by this morning. We have had less than a half-inch here on the WeatherDeck in Cockeysville. The Sun's weather station at Calvert & Centre streets downtown has clocked more than three-quarters of an inch since midnight. BWI has recorded almost 2 inches.
Showers and thunderstorms were dropping several inches of additional rain on some locations this morning. Howard County was under a flood warning as heavy thunderstorms unloaded 2 to 3 inches on the Washington DC area. Here's the radar loop.
Rescue crews have already been snatching stranded Maryland motorists from peril this morning. Don't put your life or theirs at risk. Do not try to drive through flooded low spots.
Forecasters out at Sterling are calling for occasional showers and thunderstorms through Thursday as we remain near this stalled front. Low pressure centered in the Mississippi Valley is spinning counter-clockwise, drawing lots of Gulf and Atlantic moisture northward into the eastern states. All that warm, wet air is running into the cold front, where it gets wrung out. And we get wet. That's good for lawns and water supplies, bad for roofers and vacationers.
Me? I have a new, young cherry tree that needs water, so it's okay by me. How about you? Sick of rain yet?
Comments
It is wet! My rain gauge hit 1.26 inches yesterday, and is already at 2/3 in this morning. (Ellicott City) And we enjoyed the booming, crashing and cracking thunder yesterday, too. Not sick of it yet, though. I'm hoping it washes all the pollen out of the air (and off the cars, trees, house, and everywhere else it has collected).
Posted by: Corine Schramke | May 26, 2009 9:24 AM
I have a new dogwood, so the rain is OK by me. However, wet as the beginning of the month was, my backyard - tending toward swampiness, anywa - was just soup. I couldn't get out there with the (push) lawnmower, since it bogs down in mud, but my lawn loves rain and grew just impossibly - actually very amusingly if it weren't my lawn - tall.
Yesterday, I "cut" it with the weedwhacker and when I got to the garden along the back fence, the soil was like concrete and had even split in places. I know it should have had mulch. but this is craziness!
Posted by: Eve | May 26, 2009 10:34 AM
I am happy about it, but the dog did not like the thunder yesterday one single bit.
I have a huge potted gardenia and just put it out early last week. I think that the rain will be very good for it. It needs pruning badly, but I worry about doing it.
Posted by: pigtown | May 26, 2009 10:52 AM
I don't mind the rain... it's good for the grass, shrubs and my 3 young trees.... but the timing of the storm yesterday was terrible, and coincided with the start of our festivities, forcing many adults and children to be locked indoors.
Eagar to see the rainfall totals from yesterday, I checked weather.com and for my zip code (20902), it claimed only 0.01". Since last year I began noticing downward revisions being made to the rainfall totals (with the originally reported totals being cut in half) but this is ridiculous. 0.01" of rain doesn't overwhelm my drainage and send all my mulch into the street.
FR: The station of record for your Silver Spring Zip Code is Reagan National Airport. Their official total for Monday was 0.02 inch. But yesterday's showers were very spotty - heavy in some places and sparse nearby. Silver Spring topped the list with more than 4 inches Monday. Suitland, in PG Co., had just 0.40 inches by this morning. It rained hard in Timonium yesterday afternoon, but we stayed dry in Cockeysville. We drove to Federal Hill for dinner, and ran into more rain. But our walks were still dry when we got home. What the "revisions" you mention were all about, I haven't a clue.
Posted by: Tim | May 26, 2009 12:34 PM
so, with the overnight rain, we have now wiped out our precipitation deficit. it seems like we are in a pattern of dry weather from Oct-March and then wetter than average from April-September.
p.s. thanks for the info on Venus last week! I really enjoyed the moon, planet and stargazing on my late-night dog walks.
Posted by: kvnmnnng | May 26, 2009 1:40 PM
Unofficial totals indicate new daily rainfall records at all 3 major reporting locations in the Baltimore/Washington area.
Posted by: CapitalClimate | May 26, 2009 4:18 PM