Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

County Drenched In Rainfall Last Week

Oh, how it rained.

When the rains began falling Wednesday, June 14, continuing into the early morning hours of Thursday, June 15, the county was left drenched.

John W. Teeter, local meteorologist, said Prescott received 4.07 inches during this 24-hour period, while Davis Benton, Cale's weatherman, said the south part of Nevada County saw 5.25 inches of rain.

According to Benton, this is the wettest June there has been since he's been keeping records, and this is more than 20 years.

Teeter said the wet month has almost caught the area up in rainfall for the year, as a total of eight inches has fallen this month alone in Prescott. "We'll likely catch up before the month is out."

Benton said the southern part of the county is a bit above normal for the year, as 9.5 inches of rain has fallen in the Cale region so far this month. For the year, he added, 32 inches of rain has fallen, with the annual amount being about 58 inches.

"This rain," Teeter said, "will soak in rapidly and be dry fast. It will help the aquifer. I'll see if the water level rises. I've got a well I can measure it with."

He said the water level in the well was down to seven feet, and he will measure to see if it has risen any.

"Most of the rain fell in four or five hours," Benton said of the deluge last week. "Nevada County got the heaviest rainfall in the state that night.

"We came out pretty good considering," he said. "We could still get more rain, as more has been predicted."

The reason for June's almost daily rain, Benton said, is because a storm system is stalled on top of the state, primarily in the southern part of Arkansas. This coupled with the warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico creates the potential for heavy rainfall and thunderstorms.

Still, little damage resulted from the storm last week.