MONTHLY WEATHER OBSERVATIONS LAVALE MD SEPTEMBER 2003 OBSERVER NATE MULLINS Observations for this month taken by Steve and Sara Mullins Also help from neighbors David Drewery and Bernie Miller Note this station uses daylight savings time when it applies. Special Observations: F=fog, T=thunder, H=hail, S=sleet, G=glaze, DW=damaging winds Observation time for this station is midnight. Temperature, °F Precipitation, In. Liquid Solid 7am 24-hour Temp Rain Snow/ Snow Date Max Min at Obs Equiv Ice Depth Special Obs. 1 78 62 .36 T 2 74 65 .20 F 3 84 68 .01 F,T 4 79 68 .19 T 5 68 57 6 74 52 F 7 74 53 F 8 78 58 9 70 58 .19 10 74 56 .01 F 11 79 48 F 12 66 54 .01 13 68 58 .51 F 14 75 62 .12 F 15 71 68 T 16 76 52 F 17 75 49 F 18 64 51 1.03 19 69 62 1.33 F 20 74 60 T F 21 72 60 22 68 63 1.30 F 23 72 54 .01 F 24 72 47 25 72 50 .03 26 67 56 .03 27 77 58 1.74 T(hail) F,T,H 28 69 55 .03 F 29 64 49 30 61 40 F AVG 72.1 56.4 SUM 7.10 T(hail) - EXT 84 40 MAX 1.74 T(hail) - Date 3 30 DATE 27 27 - +=Also occurred on earlier dates. Miscellaneous Stats: Mean Monthly Temperature: 64.3 F Year Precipitation to Date: 42.29" Season Snowfall to Date: 0.0" Number of days with: Fog: 17 Ice Pellets: 0 Glaze: 0 Thunder: 4 Hail: 1 Damaging Winds: 0 NOTES AND/OR SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: STORMS SPLIT AGAIN... 1: Brief thundershower this evening 5:45pm .09" fell. As usual, this station was in a small split in the storms with very heavy rains & storms narrowly missing to the N, S & E. Periods of rain 8pm-midnight .36" total for the day. 2: Brief shower overnight and periods of light rain, drizzle & patchy fog on and off all day total .20" rain fell. AND AGAIN... 3: Same old song & dance. Storms split this morning and went north, south & east. Same exact thing this afternoon. Storms were literally in a ring in all four directions around this station with the nearest cell passing just 1-2 miles S & E. Only .01" rain. AND AGAIN... 4: Shower about 3am only .05" fell. Extremely heavy rains and storms skirted barely S & E for several hours early this morning. Over 4 inches of rain was reported in Hampshire Co WV within 20 miles of this station. Narrow line of storms this evening dropped a quick .14" for a total of .19" for the day. This station has been in a black hole with only .76" falling the last four days. Massive amounts of rain and storms have hit all around here with 2-4 inches falling at nearly every surrounding station and 4-6 inches in some areas causing severe flash flooding. 9: Showers this morning 7-9am and some light rain & drizzle through early afternoon .19" fell. Some partial clearing by evening. 11: A cool morning low of 48F with dense fog early. Became sunny & warm today. 13: Persistant low clouds & fog. Light rain and showers began about 8:15am with some heavier showers this afternoon and evening .51" fell. 14: Some fog and drizzle overnight with a few brief showers another .12" fell. 15: Another instance of heavy rain and storms to the west breaking apart and reforming just to the east. Just some drizzle this morning, trace of rain. HURRICANE ISABEL HEAVY RAIN AND HIGH WIND 18: Periods of rain began around 1pm today with increasing winds throughout the evening. ENE Wind gusts to 35+ mph by late evening. Rain heaviest towards midnight. Cool but temperatures slowly rose into the 60s. Total rain 1.03" by midnight. No significant wind damage here but trees were blown down in parts of the county. 19: Rain overnight moderate to heavy at times another 1.20" by 7am. Not as much as expected with no big downpours and only light winds even though the center of the storm passed very close. Persistant light rain through 5:30pm. Daily rain total 1.33" and storm total 2.36". Rainfall was much heavier on the ridges to the west with nearly 4" reported in the Frostburg area. Some flooding and wind damage was reported in the area. Isabel is still the heaviest 24-hour precipitation event of 2003 so far. It's also the first time we've had back-to-back days with over 1" of rain since July 18-19, 1996. MORE RAIN 22: Rain began this afternoon and was steady through the evening. Heavy rains 10pm-midnight ended around midnight 1.30" fell. This is the 3rd day in the last 5 that I have measured over an inch of rain. First time this has happened since June 1995 when over an inch fell 3 days in a row (June 25-26-27). 24: Coolest low of the month so far 47F. SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING RAINS 27: Thunderstorm briefly brushed by 2:30-3pm with pea-sized hail and wind gusts to 25 mph. Strong storms 4-6pm with wind gusts to 40 mph, intense frequent lightning and very heavy downpours. Streams out of banks and lots of flooding reported in the county with 3-4 inches in some areas. Also reports of quarter-sized hail & damaging wind. Cold front brought rapidly falling temperatures, few more showers this evening total 1.74" rain. 28: Patchy fog this morning. Clouds built up this afternoon with falling temperatures and light rain through the afternoon and evening only .03" fell. 30: Coolest day of the month. Cool low of 40F and high only 61F despite ample sunshine. SEPTEMBER 2003 SUMMARY This was the 2nd wettest September on my records (since 1992) and the 8th wettest month overall with 7.10 inches. Hurricane Isabel along with numerous showers and thunderstorms made for a very busy month. September brought severe storms, hail, damaging winds, lots of fog, and flooding rains to the area. Temperatures however were unremarkable, averaging near normal (mean 64.3F) with not much variation and no real extremes, either high or low. Additional notes/records 3: Daily record high min 68 F 4: Daily record high min 68 F 19: Daily record rainfall 1.33" 27: Daily record rainfall 1.74" September 2003 was the 3rd wettest September on record with 7.10" of rainfall. Four days had over 1 inch of rainfall, tying four previous months for the record. However, all four days with 1+ inch of rain came in a 10-day period, which is the most in such a short time.