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Welcome rain breaks dry spell...

For a time back in June, people were beginning to wonder if we were entering a drought period not seen since the 1930s.

9/19/17 (Tue)

Finally, the rain . . . Droplets form on the front door of The Kenmare News during steady rain Friday afternoon as a person with an umbrella passes by. It’s the first rainfall in September and brought at least 2 inches of rain to the area, doubling the rainfall received in August in Kenmare.

By Marvin Baker

For a time back in June, people were beginning to wonder if we were entering a drought period not seen since the 1930s.

July reinforced that idea with a tie for the lowest rainfall total in recorded history in Kenmare, but then August brought a whopping 1.03 inches of rain to dash people’s theory.

However, severe drought remained across much of northwestern North Dakota with the U.S. Drought Monitor suggesting the area would need several inches to alleviate the drought.

Mid September has given us twice the rainfall we had in August with nearly half a month remaining before we head into October. It was a good, soaking rain, but not quite enough to wipe out remnants of the drought that lingered through August.

During August there were six days in which rain occurred. The area received .35 on Aug. 2, .25 on Aug. 5, .21 on Aug. 9, .03 on Aug. 12, .09 on Aug. 15 and .10 on Aug. 18.

The rain was spread out well enough through month and was enough to allow vegetation to begin growing again, but fell short of providing adequate rainfall in the second half of the month.

In fact, the annual rainfall in 2017 remains one of the lowest totals in recorded history to date. Through August 6.35 inches of precipitation has been recorded with more than 2 inches of that from January through March in the form of snowfall.

28 day span without rain

There was also a period of 28 days, from Aug. 19 to Sept. 15, that didn’t see precipitation in the Kenmare area.

The average temperature in August was 79 degrees, which is, well, average. The average overnight low was 49 degrees as measured by staff at the Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge.

The hottest August temperature was 92 degrees on Aug. 29 and the lowest temperature occurred on Aug. 21, when it dipped to 42 degrees. Only one other day reached 90 degrees and that occurred on the 27th.

The coolest daytime in August was 64 on Aug. 2 and the warmest overnight low was 56 on Aug. 8.

Altogether, there were four daytime highs in the 60s, 12 in the 70s and 13 in the 80s with four of those days hitting 89 on the 18th, the 23rd, the 28th and the 31st.

Statistically, the overnight lows didn’t bring a lot of excitement with all 31 of them in the 40s or 50s. Seventeen were in the 50s and 14 were in the 40s.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the August nighttime temperatures was that eight of them were 50 degrees, including three consecutive from Aug. 23 through Aug. 25. Others occurred on the 11th and 12th, the 14th, the 16th and the 28th... 

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