RICHMOND, Va. -- Completely dry weekends have been few and far between for many months now.
We took a look back at how many weekends had at least a trace of rain on one of the days. Disclaimer -- these stats are a little misleading, because in certain cases, the measurable precipitation occurred prior to sunrise. You might not have noticed the rain that day if you slept well, but you likely did if you were out late or camping.
So far this year, there have only been two completely dry weekends. Some rain or snow have occurred on seven out of nine weekends.
- Since December 1st, the start of meteorological winter, 77% of the weekends have had some rain and only 23% were dry.
- Since September 1st, the start of meteorological autumn, only 20% of the weekends were completely dry.
- Since last April, no month recorded four dry weekends. Every month had at least two weekends with a trace of rain on at least one day.
Over the years, there have been studies to see if rain does target the weekends. One study mentioned rain was slightly more common on weekends due to increased pollution during the week, but that was valid only in certain locations. Other studies showed mid-week rain was more common, but that also depended on where you lived and the time of year.
Statistically, the chance of it raining or snowing on any particular day of the week is no higher than any other day. Weekend weather is much more noticeable since fewer people work and more people have activities outside.
Unfortunately, it looks like our active and wet pattern will continue. There was a trace of rain Saturday, and more rain is expected Sunday. Rainfall totals from Friday through Monday morning will exceed two inches in some locations.
A typical March produces about 4" of liquid, which includes rain and any melted snow or ice.
The March precipitation outlook from the National Weather Service shows a decent chance our monthly precipitation will be above normal. (Temperatures are forecast to be near normal).
January finished 0.42" below normal, but February precipitation was almost an inch above normal.
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