WASHINGTON - You may be surprised to hear that it's been a wetter start to 2019 than in 2018, Washington D.C.'s wettest year on record.
For January 1 through May 5, D.C. picked up 11.24" in 2018 and 14.74" in 2019 -- a difference of 3.5".
If you look at these numbers alone, it would appear that 2019 is on track to be wetter than 2018. But this is not necessarily the case!
Statistically, D.C.'s wettest months of the year are May, June, July, and September -- all still in our future. It has been a wet spring in D.C., but there is still more than half of the year left. Patterns can change, and a wet start to the year can easily change into a dry finish to the year. Last year, the opposite happened.
2018 Rainfall By The Numbers
For 2018, broken down into thirds -- the wettest months of the year by-far fell in the last two-thirds of the year. The year got off to a very dry start with under an inch of precipitation in January, making it the 4th driest on record. The wet pattern kicked into high gear starting in May.
January through April - 9.32"
May through August - 28.86"
September through December - 26.18"
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2019 Rainfall Trend
In 2019, the total January through April precipitation was 13.06", over 3.5" more than the first four months of 2018.
What's an even MORE interesting trend is the timing of each new wave of showers & rain -- many have fallen on Fridays! Eleven out of the 18 Fridays this year have had measurable rainfall.
A Wet Summer?
The above-average rain trend may continue into the summer. The latest 3 month precipitation outlook from the Climate Prediction Center through July has greater-than-average chances of above average precipitation through the middle of the summer. This means the odds are in our favor for another wet summer.
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