Weather
Weather WisdomWeather Wisdom - Friday, August 7, 2009By Craig Koplien (WTMJ)
Heavy rainfall can occur in Wisconsin anytime during the warm weather months. Yet, many of our heaviest, flooding rains have occurred during August. On August 6th, 1986, nearly 7” of rain in Milwaukee led to the flooding of County Stadium. On that same date in 1998, 8-11” of rain led to severe flooding in Milwaukee, Waukesha and Sheboygan counties. On August 12th, 2002, parts of Waukesha County picked up 5-7” of rain. And 2 years ago, from August 18-20 in 2007, widespread flooding across Southeast Wisconsin was caused by 4-7” of rain.
There are a couple of key reasons why flooding rains are common this time of year. First, this is the time it tends to be the most humid. The more moisture there is in the air, the more there is to rain out on us. Second, storms in the middle of summer are often slow-movers. The longer a heavy storm stays over any particular area, the higher the rain total is going to be. Storm speed is determined by the speed of the winds very high the atmosphere. During the middle of summer, these winds are usually lighter than during the spring and fall. |
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