Feast or famine: After a very soggy summer, the pattern flipped to start off fall. If you recall, May and early June were very dry and drought began to develop, but that swiftly changed. June ended up near average with 3.99 inches of rain — a surplus of 0.16 inches in Cleveland (at Hopkins Airport). However, rain and storms increased during July, with 6.75 inches of rain. It was actually the seventh wettest July on record. We ended the month with 6.37 inches, which was the ninth-wettest August on record in Cleveland. Fast forward and September was the driest month of 2023 so far! It was also one of the driest September's ever across Northeast Ohio.
Of course, there is one more day in the month, but this weekend continues to look dry across Northeast Ohio as well. Cleveland picked up only 0.77 inches of rain. That was about 3 inches below average making it the sixth driest September on record for Cleveland. Up until Thursday, it was actually the driest month ever! September 28 was the most rain Cleveland received in the entire month, with only 0.30 inches of rain!
And it was not just Cleveland that was very dry, but much of our area was dry as well. Akron-Canton only received 0.33 inches of rain the entire month, making it the second driest September ever. Additionally, Mansfield picked up 0.59 inches which means it was the driest September ever in Mansfield! You can also see that using the CoCoRaHS Mapping System (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network), much of our viewing area received less than 1 inch of rain this month with the exception of northwest Ohio. There were a few spots in Lorain, Erie, and Ottawa counties that picked up over 2 inches of rain this month. Certainly the exception and not the rule!
Those communities/counties are also excluded from early signs of drought. Below is the U.S. Drought Monitor and it shows "abnormally dry" conditions for much of our area. "D0," or abnormally dry, means the area in yellow is experiencing short-term dryness, slowing planting and growth of crops and pastures. The U.S. Drought Monitor is a map released every Thursday (with data from Tuesday to Tuesday). It tracks drought across the U.S. Using five classifications: Abnormally dry (D0), which shows areas that may be going into or are coming out of drought, and four levels of drought: Moderate (D1), severe (D2), extreme (D3) and exceptional (D4).
The weekly update to the United States Drought Monitor was issued on Thursday, and there have been noticeable changes across our viewing area over the last week. Compare the map released this week (left) compared to the previous week (right) below. Note how the yellow area (D0) expanded considerably across Ohio during that time and moderate drought showed up in southern and western Ohio. 85% of the state is now experiencing abnormally dry conditions.
Much of this week continues to look dry, with a chance for rain returning by the end of the week. We will keep you posted on totals and timing on News 5 Cleveland all week.
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