Posted on 07/18/2006 8:10:08 AM PDT by blam
Mobile is setting records for dryness
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
By BILL FINCH
Environment Editor
As severe drought creeps deeper into southwest Alabama, the dryness in Mobile is shattering records.
The first 6½ months of 2006 has been the driest such period ever recorded in 165 years of record-keeping in Mobile, according to data from the National Weather Service. Mobile received less than 15 inches through the end of June this year; in 1938, the driest year ever recorded in the city, rainfall through June totaled almost 16 inches.
Unless conditions turn around quickly, this drought may soon leave the old rainfall records in the dust. July 1938 in Mobile was unusually wet, with more than 12 inches of rain; but July of 2006 seems to be shaping up as yet another abysmally dry month.
To make matters worse, the drought of 2006 had its origins in September and October of 2005, and the period from October to July also appears to be the driest ever recorded in the city.
Precipitation analysis and rainfall totals show that virtually all of south Alabama is parched, but some areas are exceptionally dry.
Fairhope, for example, is down more than 13 inches of rain for the year, and has received only 65 percent of its normal rainfall through mid-July, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But Fairhope is an oasis compared to the Mobile Regional Airport, which is down by more than 20 inches, and has received only 47 percent of normal rainfall.
Radar-based precipitation analysis suggests that many areas are actually in far worse shape than Mobile's official recording station at Mobile Regional Airport.
Many areas in midtown and downtown Mobile missed showers that moistened Fairhope and Regional Airport in recent weeks. While almost 3 inches fell this weekend at the west Mobile airport, the city's downtown airport recorded only a half inch.
Large areas of Baldwin County east of Daphne and along the Florida line have recorded 75 to 90 percent of their expected rainfall over the past 30 days. But the southern half of Mobile and Baldwin counties and much of Mobile east of Interstate 65 has received only 10 to 25 percent of normal rainfall in that same period, the National Weather Service precipitation analysis indicates.
In general, extended drought conditions are less severe away from the coast, largely as a result of a couple of months of above-normal rainfall this spring. Jackson has received about 66 percent of its normal rainfall this year -- unusually dry conditions in March, April and June in that city were partially offset by more than 7 inches of rain in May and more than 6 inches in February. July rainfall patterns may also be kind to southern Clarke County -- Jackson is slightly ahead of normal for the month.
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Well done! My expertise is in accounting.
Historical Review: Megadrought And Megadeath In 16th Century Mexico
"The epidemic of cocoliztli from 1545 to 1548 killed an estimated 5 million to 15 million people, or up to 80% of the native population of Mexico (Figure 1). In absolute and relative terms the 1545 epidemic was one of the worst demographic catastrophes in human history, approaching even the Black Death of bubonic plague"
Retired chip-maker here. (TI)
We're not doing much better up here around B'ham. It's been over three weeks since it's rained on my place, and that was only a tenth of an inch!
Glad to hear you got a little rain. Hang in there!
Your "sprinkler well" ???? How does this compare to regular wells for your home? AND how does this affect wells in general?
We too had a record drought, extending even pre-K. The driest ever on record. It finally broke about 10 days ago, with several drenching, wide-ranging thunderstorms that were desperately needed. Finally now we seem to be back in a more normal pattern.
Well, good job dude and thanks!
Shallow wells, not usually used for drinking water.
We don't have a well for potable water. All the homes in this area (the ones with sprinkler systems), get irrigation water from wells. The water table has dropped by about 20 feet this year, so ours needs to be sunk deeper in order to find a good water source.
Nice rural town. Local news just said we have three cases of EEE, two sentinal chickens in Grand Bay and a horse.(Didn't catch where the horse is)
Wow, Poobear, thanks for that! Folks, that's from NOAA, and they're calling for severe drought from Louisiana Eastward along the Gulf shore up through central Georgia. Puts me right in the middle of it. :-(
I think we need a very weak hurricane/tropical storm to take the Ivan track up through Alabama.
Oops.... Looks like Blam already posted the map!
Shoulda read the thread instead of posting directly from pings!
I've been getting enough rain for both of us.
LOL. Bush and Rove must have sent those down here because of the Katrina flooding. Someone forgot to turn them off.
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