Will this pattern follow us thru winter?

[rmk4ever]

John, weve had 10+ inches of rain for july, & rain all day today.
June was pretty wet also. It would be great if this was dec & jan percip. East central MN.

 

[jd]

There is a large difference in how precip is formed in the summer vs. how it is formed in the winter.

Most summertime precip occurs with thunderstorms, which are prolific rainfall producers. Not only to they have a lot more atmospheric moisture to work with than winter precip events, but they also tower to much larger heights, which allow much heavier precip totals to occur underneath them.

So comparing summer precip events to winter precip events is really not a fair comparison.

-John

 

[farmermark]

Is there a general time when we switch precip types you talk about?

Mark

 

[jd]

farmermark-

It all depends on where you are located in the country. In the far northern Midwest, typically by mid September we are done with the purely convective precip, but can still have some mixed in with the overrunning type.

For areas like Des Moines, Chicago, Detroit, it would be the end of Sept and for areas like Florida, it never goes away.

-John

 

[farmermark]

Thanks John,

Looks like we might finally cool off for awhile. Perhaps Our change has come early?

Any thoughts on the upcoming Hurricane season?

Mark

 

[jd]

Sorry farmermark, we are starting to drift into the "No specific forecast questions" area of the rules for the board.

-John