Lead Forecaster Daniel Crawley
July was a wet month for the Western half of North Carolina. After dealing with extended dry weather in the month of June and a “flash drought” onset, the region made up some ground by getting in on a near daily pattern of afternoon thunderstorms.
Early in the month of June a strong summer ridge centered over the Plains States put the Eastern US on the front side of the ridge resulting in a period of thunderstorm complexes that dove southeast from the Midwest into the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic Region.
Once that pattern broke down, we began to see a “Bermuda High” setup for the second half of July where the Carolinas got into an extended southerly flow regime. That kept the region in a moist flow from off the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. It resulted in a daily convective pattern with little to no capping in the upper atmosphere.
Monthly Rainfall Totals…
Below is a listing of rainfall amounts from our eight-county coverage area in the month of July. The data sources include local CoCoRaHS observers and local COOP stations…
Alexander County
3.6 SE Taylorsville: 11.12
Burke County
Jonas Ridge 12.02
Glen Alpine 10.02
Morganton COOP: 8.33
Drexel 8.21
Caldwell County
Yadkin Valley: 14.04
Rhodhiss: 8.96
Lenoir COOP: 8.18
Patterson: 7.18
Catawba County
Hickory Regional Airport: 10.18
St. Stephens: 9.18
2.9 SE Newton: 9.09
Oxford COOP: 8.59
Terrell: 8.25
Sherrill’s Ford: 7.61
Maiden: 5.94
Cleveland County
Mooresboro: 6.03
Moss Lake: 5.58
Casar COOP: 5.15
Shelby: 3.96
Lincoln County
Vale: 8.67
Lincolnton COOP: 5.98
McDowell County
Nebo: 9.81
Woodlawn 9.80
Marion COOP: 8.51
Graphite 8.35
Glenwood 7.44
Rutherford County
Bills Creek: 8.70
Forest City COOP: 6.49
Union Mills 6.60
Lake Lure COOP: 5.98
Ellenboro: 4.60