Readers may recall we reported on the unusually wet nature of our late spring/ early summer about a month ago. At that time, Madison had recorded the wettest May 1-July 15 period since at least 1939 while averaging more than 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit above normal for that same period.
Another month has ticked away in this summer, and it has been a bit different than the ones that came before it. Through Aug. 15, Madison has recorded 1.73 inches of precipitation, which is 0.35 below normal. Ten of the first 15 days of the month had no precipitation at all and, from Aug. 7 to Aug. 13 we had a streak of seven straight days with no rain at all. That is now the longest dry streak since May 1.
One last update for the current month is that we have averaged 0.8 degrees Fahrenheit below normal for the first 15 days.
So, both the coolness and the dryness have been very different thus far in the new month.
Despite this recent lack of precipitation recently, we will still have the wettest May 1 to Aug. 15 ever recorded in Madison. To top it off, if we were to receive more than 4.63 inches of rain between now and September 1, we would surpass the all time record for wettest May 1 through September 1, 29.09 inches, set in 2018. That would require an average of nearly 0.29 inches each day until then — not likely since this time of the year averages less than half that amount.
Steve Ackerman and Jonathan Martin, professors in the UW-Madison department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, are guests on WHA radio (970 AM) at noon the last Monday of each month. Send them your questions at stevea@ssec.wisc.edu or jemarti1@wisc.edu.
