Rainfall more than 60 percent above normal for the year so far

It you think it’s been raining a lot this year, you’re right. In three months we have received nearly 40 per cent of the average rainfall for the entire year.

The average for New Albany is 57 inches, as compare to 38 years for the country as a whole.

The community sees, on average, 219 sunny days each year with measurable precipitation on 106.

So far in 2020 we have received 22.19 inches of rain. That’s 8.66 inches above normal for the first three months of the year.

In January, we saw measurable rain on 16 days, just more than half, for a total of 6.44 inches. That was 2.46 inches above average.

February had rain on 15 days out of the leap year number 29 for a total of 6.34 inches. That was only 1.95 inches above normal.

March was much wetter with rain on 20 out of 31 days. The precipitation total was 9.41 inches, or 4.25 inches more than average.

For record totals, January had 17.56 inches in 1937 but only 0.57 inches in 1986.

The high and low for February were 13.43 inches in 2018 and 9.71 in 1947.

March records were 16.20 in 2016 and 0.70 in 2018.

Temperatures have been closer to average, generally.

January’s high and low were 72 and 23 degrees, respectively. The record high was only 79 although the low was a more dramatic -8 degrees (in 1918 and 1886).

February temperatures were about the same with a high of 70 and low of 22, although the record high was 81 degrees in 1962 and an even more dramatic -11 in 1951.

March was a little warmer with a high of 85, close to the record 87 degrees in 1911, and the low was 36, also much warmer than the record low, which was 12 degrees in 1943.

The long-term forecast for the next two weeks calls for nine days with precipitation and some storms, and about normal temperatures in the mid- to high-70s during the day and low 50s at night.

Some people have expressed hope that warmer weather will ease the coronavirus crisis but that has only been speculation so far.