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Soaking rain Sunday should make this a record wet December

Posted at 6:37 AM, Dec 27, 2013
and last updated 2013-12-27 06:37:55-05

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – A soaking rain is likely Sunday in Virginia, easily pushing us into the record books for one of our wettest Decembers on record in Richmond.

Before the storm arrives Sunday, we have a tally of 4.76 inches of precipitation in Richmond (at Richmond International Airport). That value is already almost two inches above average for December.

Here are the top ten wettest Decembers on record (the yellow number at the bottom is what an average December has for precipitation, both melted liquid equivalent of any frozen precipitation and rainfall).

Top10WettestDecembers
DATA: NOAA records from 1872-Present for Richmond, VA.

With one to two inches of rainfall likely on Sunday, that would push us up around the 9th to 5th place spot for December.

Our year-to-date rainfall will also be well above average. We currently stand at 52.33 inches of precipitation in 2013. That’s more than nine inches above average! If we get nearly two inches of rain Sunday, we could just edge into the 10th wettest year on record in Richmond, thus breaking a record-holder from 1886. Here’s the top ten wettest years list for RVA, with the average annual precipitation highlighted at the bottom in yellow:

Top10WettestYearsRVA
DATA: NOAA records from 1872-Present for Richmond, VA.

In case you’re wondering, the latest Drought Monitor reflects our wet conditions this year in Virginia, keeping us from drought:

20131224_VA_trd

Meteorologist Carrie Rose
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