December marked the fourth month in a row with below normal rainfall; however we did wind up 5.85 inches above normal for the year. We had six months with above normal and six months with below normal rainfall. The six month period of March through August produced 79 percent of our total rainfall for the year.
August produced 79 of our total rainfall for the year.
Below normal rainfall for the last three months can be attributed to weather system La Nina which is still present and active.
2016 RAINFALL BY MONTH
Month Rainfall (inches) Normal Departure
January 0.82 3.62 -2.80
February 1.54 3.36 -1.82
March 8.58 4.33 +4.25
April 6.02 3.30 +2.72
May 5.83 4.59 +1.24
June 10.16 4.03 +6.13
July 2.19 1.95 +0.24
August 6.60 2.43 +4.17
September 2.57 3.06 -0.49
October 0.36 5.30 -4.94
November 2.53 3.87 -1.34
December 2.46 3.97 -1.51
Totals 49.66 43.81 +5.85
LOOKING AHEAD TO JANUARY: Normal rainfall for January is 3.62 inches. January is normally our coldest month of the year, but temperatures don’t tend to bottom out until around winter’s midpoint which is February 3rd. The coldest temperature we have had in the past 23 years was 10 degrees on February 4, 1996.
The La Nina weather system is still active, so below normal rainfall and above normal temperatures could remain in effect for another couple of months.
The above rainfall and temperature data was recorded by Barney Leach, former volunteer co-op weather observer for the National Weather Service and former weather volunteer for Channel 8 in Dallas, Channel 10 in Waco, and radio station KNES in Fairfield.
