Home » Weather » Wild, Wet, Wacky (Hot) Weather

Wild, Wet, Wacky (Hot) Weather

Here it is … a little more than a month left of the official summer season (fall starts on September 22), and the weather, depending on where you live or vacationed this season, has been “wild, wacky, wet, hot, and just right.”

A year ago, the concern was the lack of rain in the Southeast. This year, the concern seems to be the lack of sun and the overwhelming amount of rain, especially in the Midwest at the beginning of the summer and now in New England and the Maritimes of Canada.

The 2008 Farmers’ Almanac, which made its summer predictions over two years ago had predicted “summer to be uniformly warmer than normal across much of the nation. Precipitation will average near or somewhat below normal, except over much of the central U.S. where higher than normal rainfall will occur. Parts of the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic in particular will see occasional bouts of very heavy rainfall, from heavy showery rains and locally strong thunderstorms… Heavier than normal rainfall may also fall over some of the Plains and Rockies. In contrast, we are forecasting much lower than normal precipitation amounts along the Pacific Coast.”

The 2008 Farmers’ Almanac also contained an ominous hurricane prediction, which we still feel is very accurate. We still expect an active tropical season in 2008, with the Gulf Coast directly in the crosshairs for potential hurricanes during mid-August, and mid-September. The associated tropical moisture from such systems is likely to flow northward, creating a threat of excessive rainfall over many eastern locations. The traditional peak of the hurricane season occurs on September 10.

We didn’t see how much rain would fall on the Midwest. However, the current trends seem to be averaging a bit towards normal. The excessive rainfall the Farmers’ Almanac predicted in the East has certainly come true in the Almanac’s home state of Maine. Rain has been even more plentiful than lobsters this year along Maine’s coast and inland.

In Canada, our predictions were similar, “… summer will be uniformly warmer than normal across much of the nation. Precipitation will average near or somewhat below normal over Quebec and most of the Maritimes, as well as the Prairies and Rockies. Meanwhile, higher-than-normal rainfall will fall over much of Ontario as well as Newfoundland and parts of Labrador. In contrast, we’re forecasting much lower than normal precipitation amounts near and along the Pacific Coast of British Columbia."

Our predictions for a wet season seemed to be a bit more west than east, but if you look at Zone 2 August and September’s predictions, you will see a lot of rain predicted.

But what’s next??? What will the fall and winter weather bring?? Will this wild, wet, and wacky weather continue?

Stay tuned …the official 2008/09 weather prediction will be released next week!