By Nathan Ham
Even if Boone avoids another drop of rain on Thursday, this month of May will go down as one of the wettest ever since records were kept starting in the 1920s, that according to data provided at RaysWeather.com.
As of right now Boone has received 9.72 inches of rain, which would make it the third wettest month of May ever. Interestingly enough, last year went down as the wettest May with 14.89 inches of rain according to information from NOAA, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
These numbers may vary a bit from place to place. Boone’s rain total at the station that Ray’s Weather uses last year was 9.95 inches, not quite the number from NOAA, which would make it the second wettest behind 2013 when Boone received 9.98 inches. Either way, it’s safe to say that Boone and the rest of the High Country have been swamped with rainwater for most of the month. The Aho area has received nearly 15 inches of rain this month.
Over in Ashe County, Jefferson has recorded 11.21 inches of rain, making it the third wettest May on record there. For other places further south, the rain totals are either record-breaking or close to it. Beech Mountain and Burnsville are both at the end of the second wettest May ever while areas around Mt. Mitchell, Old Fort and Asheville have already had the wettest May ever recorded in that portion of the state. Some areas of McDowell County have had well over 15 inches of rain.
“It seems like it has either been feast or famine. We’re either in a really wet spell or a really dry spell,” said David Still, a meteorologist with Ray’s Weather. “What I will be interested to see play out for this summer is whether this is going to be a wet summer or are we going to hit a dry spell where it barely rains for a month or two. I think it goes one of those two directions. That’s not scientifically based and I haven’t looked at seasonal trends, it just seems like that’s how it has been the last couple of years.”
The four wettest Mays on record in Boone have all been in the last 10 years with 2009 being the fourth wettest at 9.33 inches. In 1973, Boone received 8.76 inches of rain and in 1976, Boone had 8.62 inches of rain.
Looking ahead to the weekend and early next week, it appears June will not start off quite as wet with some scattered showers and thunderstorms in the forecast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to the latest update from Ray’s Weather. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday look to be absolutely beautiful weather days in the High Country with no rain, lots of sunshine and temperatures in the uppers 60s and lower 70s for highs.
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