Summer 2013 Second Wettest on Record in NJ [AUDIO]
When we look back at the summer of 2013, we may remember the wet June, the hot July and a fairly mild August. But, it was actually one for the record books.
In fact, this summer was the second wettest on record in New Jersey according to State Climatologist Dr. Dave Robinson at Rutgers University.
"June was the wettest June on record. So, when you add up above normal precipitation in June, it was a bit above normal in July and August as well, and that makes it the second wettest summer on record only surpassed by the summer of 2011 which was punctuated by Irene," said Dr. Robinson. "Interestingly enough, despite this being 119 years of record, the seventh wettest was back in 2009. So, in the last five summers, three of them have been amongst the seven wettest going back 119 years."
As for the heat, June was above normal, July was the fifth warmest July on record while August was on the cool side. "There have only been about 40 cooler Augusts in the last 119 years," said Dr. Robinson. "When you add it all together, this was the fifteenth warmest summer out of the past century plus. It may seem cool in comparison because eight of the ten warmest have been since 1999."
This summer actually tied with three other years.
"There have only been ten other summers that have been warmer than this past summer and eight of them occurred since 1999," said Dr. Robinson.
When you look at the summer of 2013 as a whole, there were pretty wide extremes when it came to precipitation. "Overall, the southwestern part of the state and up the Delaware Valley was the wettest part of the state this summer. The driest was in the northeast corner. The entire state was above normal, but there were some big winners in the precipitation department," said Robinson. "For example, there was a case in July where Mount Holly had about 14 inches of rain and 30 miles to the east, only two-and-a-half inches of rain fell."