The rain in May falls second, records say

The Valley's precipitation so far this year is above normal.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Last month was the second-wettest May in recorded Mahoning Valley weather history, and we are already way ahead of the precipitation figure of 2003, one of the soggiest years of all time.
Through May 31, 18.68 inches of precipitation fell in the Valley for 2004, according to the National Weather Service. The official Valley precipitation count is taken at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna.
Of that 18.68 inches, 7.03 inches fell in May, with the greatest amount that month being 1.95 inches May 21. That makes last month the second-wettest May in Valley recorded weather history.
1946 still leads list
It displaces 2003, when 6.84 inches of precipitation fell in May. But it didn't come close to No. 1. That dubious distinction belongs to May 1946, when 9.87 inches of precipitation was recorded.
The average amount of precipitation for the first five months in the Valley is 14.22 inches; or about 4.5 inches less than what we've received this year.
We are also ahead of last year's precipitation figure of 14.95 inches through May. For the year, 46.01 inches of precipitation was recorded in the Valley, the fifth-wettest year for the area in recorded weather history.
By the way, 6.2 inches of rain fell in 2002, good enough for sixth in Valley history. That means during the past three years, the Valley experienced half of the six wettest Mays in recorded weather history, which goes back more than 60 years.
The average precipitation for the area in June is 3.9 inches; the Valley got 3.03 inches of precipitation last June.
So are we in for a year like 2003, which saw flooding throughout the Valley?
"Our long-range predication doesn't show any trend toward there being higher or lower precipitation this year," said Gary Garnet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland. "We will go through periods of it being dry and wet."
"There's an even chance of normal precipitation in June, July and August, so I expect normal precipitation for those months," said Bill Romine, meteorologist in charge of Weather Central Inc., a weather forecasting agency based in Madison, Wis. The company provides information for The Vindicator's daily weather page.
Precipitation in the Mahoning Valley is measured by the NWS using a rain gauge at the airport. Rainfall is a straight measurement; an inch of rain equals an inch of precipitation. Because snow is considerably less moist than rain, about 10 inches of snow is typically equal to 1 inch of precipitation.
skolnick@vindy.com