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Mariton: 2012 Precipitaiton

January 14, 2013

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager

The precipitation total at Mariton for 2012 was 42.81 inches.  To put things in perspective, only 1997 (40.39”) and 2001 (41.37”) were dryer from my limited data.  We probably would have been drier, except that December was fairly wet with a total of 5.17 inches of precipitation for the month.

Forty-three inches is about 10 inches below average, however we never went through a period of really dry weather.  November was the driest month (0.92″), and I only measured precipitation on 4 days in November.  After Hurricane Sandy, I think people were relieved to have an extended period without too much rain to work on building repairs.  March was also dry with only 0.97″; in February we recieved 1.32″.  For the most part, we received rain fairly regularly during the growing season.

What is your guess for the wettest month of 2012?  October was just under 7 inches, a little over 2 inches coming from Sandy.  September was next with 5.68″.   May was third with 5.37″ , but May was interesting because I recorded precipitation on 19 days that month.

What does 2013 hold in store?  Well, in 2011 we received 80.37’ (25” above average).  In 2010, we received average precipitation of 51.87”.  So, if I was going out on a limb, I would guess that we will either return to average precipitation, or we could have another year in the 40+” inch range.