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Ray’s Weather, Stick Boy Present ‘Rain Dance’ at the Greenway on Tuesday Morning

By Jesse Wood

RaysWeather.com and Stick Boy Bread Company present a “Rain Dance Celebration” event on Tuesday, from 8 to 8:30 a.m. with the actual rain dance scheduled for 8:15 a.m.

Ray Russell of RaysWeather.com brainstormed the idea and the local bakery will have coffee and hot apple cider on hand at the Greenway Pavilion at Clawson-Burnley Park on Monday morning.

“After weeks of drought and fires and smoke, people really were going to be celebratory about the rain coming this week, and I just wanted to give everybody a opportunity to express it, so we are just going to have a little fun with the event,” Russell said. “It’s such a rare thing to celebrate rain in the winter.”

RaysWeather.com is forecasting 1 to 3 inches of rain during a 48-hour period, beginning Monday night and ending during the daytime on Wednesday. Even the low end of that forecast will triple the amount of rain Boone has received so far in November.

According to data compiled by RaysWeather.com meteorologist David Still, Boone has only received about 0.25 inches of rain in November, as of Nov. 28. On average, Boone receives 4.12 inches of rain in November.

Between September and November, the average amount of rainfall usually exceeds 13 inches. However during those months this year, only 3.81 inches of rain has fallen since Sept. 1.

Asked about the last time the High Country has experienced a drought quite like this, Russell noted that the Asheville Regional Airport weather station has gone 37 to 38 consecutive days (depending on what happens tonight) without a measurable amount of precipitation (more than .01 inches). The longest streak in history without rain for Asheville is 39 days, which ended Nov. 3, 2000.

“Certainly for Asheville it’s the second longest drought on record, and I know it has to be comparable for us,” Russell said.

For more information on the rain dance celebration, click to this Facebook event page.