It’s probably best that the last two weeks in November were the polar opposite of the first two record-drenching weeks. However, I must admit, it was interesting – exciting even – to watch the rain gauges rise.

Each of the sub-basins exceeded its monthly average early on but quickly fizzled out.

Still, that early precipitation was enough to propel the sub-basins into record highs for November: Russell received 9.4 inches, besting its previous record of 8.9 inches set in 1948; for perspective, its monthly average is just 3.6 inches.

Likewise, Thurmond and Hartwell collected 7.4 and 9.0 inches, respectively, posting third place numbers for the past 67 years. (Thurmond, which averages 3.4 inches, saw its wettest years in 1992 (8.6 inches) and 1957 (7.8 inches), while Hartwell, which averages 4.6 inches, received a whopping 12.7 inches in 1948 and 9.8 inches in 1992.

Probably more intriguing than the record-setting precipitation is that these “anomalies” weren’t even part of climatologists’ El Niño-related, wetter-than-average-winter predictions, which are expected to begin later this month.

If those predictions are realized, though, the water managers aren’t the only ones who will be thankful for the relative dry spell in late November.

– See more at: http://balancingthebasin.armylive.dodlive.mil/2015/12/02/nov-precipitates-like-its-1948/#more-2241

The Savannah River Basin sputtered its way through September but somehow still landed close to par. This feat seems even more astonishing – if watching rain gauges can be considered astonishing – when you consider the entire basin collected more than one third of its monthly average rainfall on a single day, Sept. 25.

The rest of the month was a different story.

Hartwell, which received 4 inches last month (84 percent of its average, 4.7 inches), received less than 1/10^th of an inch for 23 of September’s 30 days. One tenth of an inch is like a toddler’s spittle and probably just as annoying if you’re counting on rain.

Russell and Thurmond weren’t much better; they had 8 and 7 days, respectively, out of 30 where the total rainfall exceeded 1/10^th of an inch in a 24-hour period.

Click here to see the hourly data for the sub-basins in September.

Both fared better than Hartwell with respect to their averages (Russell received 3.4 of its 3.7-inch average, while Thurmond got 3.7 inches – just over its average of 3.6).

And after all the hard work of collecting every little drop in September, Hurricane Joaquin and an associated low-pressure system brought a windfall of rain in October.

In fact, the storm delivered an average of more than 5 inches across the sub-basins, which was almost enough to bring the basin out of Drought Level 1. Almost.

When taken in context, two forces came together and in four days ameliorated a deficit for the Savannah River Basin – just in time for the new fiscal year.

– See more at: http://balancingthebasin.armylive.dodlive.mil/2015/10/09/local-weather-systems-in-tune-with-fiscal-calendar/#more-2193