Care For a Cup of Rain? How About a Bucket?

2014-06-26 15:16:42.000 – Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist

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After the recent stretch of stellar weather late last week through early this week, we’ve experienced quite a soaker over the last two days.

As of 1:30PM today, the summit received a total of 4.53 inches of rain since precipitation commenced early Wednesday morning. The heaviest of the rain fell last night, with buckets descending from the sky for hours at a time. Even though our rainfall totals are impressive, areas just to our south and east received even greater totals, with some rainfall totals in excess of 6 inches!

The reason for the deluge? A low-pressure system and its associated cold front collided with a very moist flow of air streaming in from the south, placing most of New Hampshire and Maine in a bulls-eye for soaking rains. Some isolated thunderstorms popped up over southern New Hampshire and Maine yesterday where adequate sunshine kicked the morning off, providing enough instability for thunderstorms to blossom. Locations further north, however, woke up to generally cloudier skies, which curbed any risk of significant thunderstorm activity.

That’s not to say, though, that 3-6 inches of rain doesn’t come with its own dangers! Flash flooding was rampant across the area, and flood warnings are still in effect for areas surrounding the Pemigewasset and Saco Rivers in the White Mountain Region.

If you’ve had enough of the rain (as all of the rivers have), hang in there. With high pressure building in to New England tonight through the weekend, much drier and warmer conditions are on the horizon for June’s finale.

Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist