Wet year got even wetter last month

By Staff
The rainstorm that dumped more than 7 inches of water on Hartselle last month was part of one of the wettest months in memory, according to state climatologists. The heavy rain also means farmers won’t have to worry about drought in the coming summer.
"If you look at how much rain fell just last month, there was enough water to get farmers through a mild to moderate drought next summer, assuming the state had enough holding ponds and reservoirs," said Dr. John Christy, the state climatologist and a professor of atmospheric science at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. "Without those ponds and reservoirs, all we as citizens get from a month of wet weather is flooding, erosion and some hydroelectric power."
In many places December was the wettest month in a year that was already wetter than normal, Christy said. Most of the southern half of the state, where December rain is typically less than five inches, got between 10 and 20 inches of rain during the month. The heavy rain also led the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare 66 of 67 Alabama’s counties as disaster areas.