Thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Isaac, the first few days of September have been pretty wet, following an August that was fairly average weatherwise.
"We've had almost two inches of rain since Saturday-that's nearly half of the average rainfall already for all of September," local weather watcher Charlie Worsham said on Sunday.
"But August was almost normal with an average high temperature of 85.9 degrees, about one degree above normal, and rainfall of 3.07 inches, just below the normal August rainfall of 3.53 inches," he added.
August's highest temperature was 94 degrees on Friday.
"But that was due to the hurricane moving north, pushing all of that warm air ahead of it," Worsham said.
Last month's lowest local daytime temperature was 73 degrees on Aug. 11, while the lowest overnight temperature was 55, recorded on both Aug. 21 and 30.
Fact Box
August weather stats
Average high temperature: 85.9 degrees.
Normal average high: 85.
Average low temperature: 62.4 degrees.
Normal average low: 63.
Rainfall: 3.07 inches.
Normal rainfall: 3.53 inches.
Source: Charlie Worsham.
Worsham noted that the average high temperature of 85.9 degrees in August was far above the record average high of only 62.4 degrees in 1934.
It's been a dry year for most of the U.S., but this area hasn't fared too badly, compared to other states just west of Ohio.
"We're just 3.5 inches below normal for our annual rainfall so far this year, but west of here, in states like Illinois and Indiana, they're between 9 and 15 inches below normal rainfall," Worsham said. "In 2007 we had only 35 inches of rain all year, that was the driest of the last 20 years. But the worst year was 1930 when there was just 26 inches of preciptation."
He said September and October are usually the driest months of the year, but Isaac may change that this year as several inches of rain could fall before the storm system moves out of the area later this week.
But this weekend's rainy weather wasn't a big problem for local fishermen Jesse Harmon and Brandon Whittle of Marietta as they launched their bass boat into the Ohio River at the Williamstown boat ramp Sunday afternoon.
"I like a good shower-some of my best fishing has been when it's raining-as long as there isn't a lot of thunder and lightning," Harmon said. "We have rain gear, or we can always move under a bridge."
According to the National Weather Service Office in Charleston, W.Va., areas of heavy rain and strong thunderstorms will continue to be associated Isaac's remnants through mid-week as the storm's low center moves very slowly eastward across the Ohio Valley.
