It’s already the eighth wettest August on record

YOUNGSTOWN — The heavy downpours that turned the Mahoning Valley into a soggy mess are over for now, but expect scattered rain through the weekend.

The National Weather Service reported 1.5 inches of rain on Monday, the largest rain accumulation in a day in the Valley since 1.84 inches of rain fell on Oct. 17, 2006.

The 1.5 inches is on top of the 1.19 inches of rain recorded by the weather service Sunday at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna. The NWS compiles official weather records for the Valley at the airport.

Through the first 20 days of August, 5.21 inches of rain fell at the airport — or 1.39 inches more than average for that time-frame. All but 0.03 of an inch fell on five days: 1.5 on Monday, 1.19 on Sunday, 0.47 on Aug. 9, 1.2 on Aug. 7, and 0.82 on Aug. 5.

The 5.21 inches is already good enough to make this the eighth wettest August since the NWS began recording weather for the Valley in 1943. The wettest August on record is 1956, when 7.86 inches of rain fell.

For the complete story, read Wednesday’s Vindicator or vindy.com