The rain, it actually helped erase the drought

By Charles Sowell  

MARCH 8, 2010 9:31 a.m. (0)

The data show in the past six months Greenville has experienced one of the wettest September through February periods on record.

Terry Benthall, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service at Greenville-Spartanburg Airport said the 34.72 inches of rain that fell during the period is the most since records started being tallied at the international airport.

Prior to that time weather data was gathered at the Greenville downtown airport, he said.

Dave Hargett, a Greenville environmental scientist, estimated the rainfall from Sept. 1, 2009 until Feb. 28, is the most rain the area has seen in about 75 years.

His analysis showed the record rainfall for the period is 39.41 inches in 1918-19. The last time more rain fell in the area was in 1936-37 when 35.11 inches of rain fell.

Hargett said rainfall over the area was about 44 percent more than normal for the period that typically contains some of the driest months of any year.

Benthall said the higher than normal rainfall and cool temperatures are typical of an El Nino weather pattern.

“What we find in a typical El Nino is that the East experiences wetter cooler weather,” Benthall said. “While the West Coast has drier and warmer weather, overall. That’s what we’ve seen with the just completed Olympics at Vancouver, British Columbia.

“The Eastern U.S. has experienced record snowfalls while the western part of the continent has been warmer and drier than normal.”

Hargett said the data is all the more interesting because the area has not experienced a significant tropical storm during the fall.

Typically, much of the rainfall experienced by the region comes from tropical events.

This El Nino pattern is expected to last through the winter season, according to the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration, with surface temperatures averaging 1 to 2 degrees Celsius higher than normal.