MONTHLY SUMMARY: SEPTEMBER 1999 UPDATED: 10/31/99 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...Tropical Rains Bring Drought to an End... ...Several Stations Set All-time Precip Records... ...Tropical Weather Storms Coastal Areas... ...Floods Devastate Eastern North Carolina and Southeast Virginia... DENNIS AND FLOYD PAY COSTLY VISITS (excerpts from newsprint) By now, we have all seen and read of the severe effects of Dennis and Floyd on the area. Dennis even made a second visit after heading to sea then becoming stationary (late August) before making a southwest trekk back towards the North Carolina coast in early September. Dennis was a mere inconvenience for most although it did produce an damaging F2 tornado in the Hampton area. (See Dave Kessel's notes for Hampton.) While the greatest impact from Floyd was on the coastal areas of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, virtually all of us received beneficial rains the storms created which brought the drought to an abrupt end. Almost every station in our ACON area received excessive rainfall during the month, the exception being the far western mountain areas and the Charlotte area. Rainfall from Floyd of up to 20 inches fell near Wilmington and 12-15 inches fell over inland Southeast Virginia south through the Interstate 95 corridor of Eastern North Carolina. The storm produced localized to widespread severe flooding particularly in Eastern North Carolina and near the Blackwater River region of Franklin, Virginia. Floyd produced massive flooding that cut-off 250 roadways and knocked-out power and phone service for many days as well as destroying many homes and buildings. No doubt the flood was one of historic proportions, flooding no one had ever seen in North Carolina. One scientist determined these floods were at a level seen only once in 500 to 700 years. In the tidal plains of Eastern North Carolina, heroes in helicopters and small boats fought the apocalyptic scene east of Interstate 95. Usually calm North Carolina and Franklin, Virginia streams and rivers turned to torrents, overrunning banks and spreading miles through countryside then into towns. Over 1500 people were stranded. Coast Guard rescuers told of seeing bodies floating in waters that rose as much as 6 inches in the time it took to load people into their helicopters as rivers flowed above tree and house tops. Devastatingly high numbers of livestock were killed by the floods as well. In Franklin, downtown businesses, including the famous paper plant, were under 9 to 12 feet of water. In Suffolk, Virginia, 20 homes were destroyed while another 200 suffered damage. Flood waters covered portions of Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake. Here in Portsmouth, we were without water for 4 days as flood waters filled pump stations which had to be shut down for fear of destroying pumping machinery. Bottled water was brought in from as far away as Florida with distribution points set-up around the city remaining open for 3 days. Please note an interesting article from the Virginian-Pilot, "Why the water rose so high so quickly" by staff writer Steve Stone. Also, the Pilot Eye Hurricane Center home page of the Virginian-Pilot has excellent articles and pictures of the Floyd event. Visit it at http://www.pilotonline.com/hurricanes and click on the "latest news" link in the left frame. (available as of 10/24/99 PM) Check-out http://www.pilotonline.com/hurricanes/piloteye_news.html for fantastic, chronological pictures and news stories on the severe weather impact on SE VA. (available as of 10/31/99 PM) Finally, more "salt in the wounds" would be added in October 1999 when Hurricane Irene would visit the area with even more torrential rains although with considerably less wind. This would only complicate matters as additional flooding in Eastern North Carolina. More on that next month. SLOWLY BACK ONLINE Good to hear that Gary (Newport News) is getting back online after his station was wiped-out by lightning during the summer. THE SPOTTER'S PAGE Are you a "registered spotter" for the National Weather Service? If so, then did you know there is a publication called "The Spotter's Page"? NWS AKQ produces this publication and occasionally mails them out. In addition, the publication is offered online at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/er/akq Articles in the most recent issue deal with AWIPS, drought, good vs. bad severe weather reports from spotters, and NWS Radio 2000. MEMBERS' REAL-TIME WEATHER Lowell is producing a weather web home page with real-time weather! Visit his site in Annandale, generally updated every hour! http://www.erols.com/llkoontz/weather.htm Also, real-time weather (update every 10-15 minutes) is available for Portsmouth (southeast section) at: http://www.pilot.infi.net/~bsmoot/graphic.htm NOTES FROM "AROUND THE LEAGUE"- Annandale - Lowell noted an extremely wet month with an excess of 6.66" Temps were slightly above normal (+0.65 deg.). It was not only the wettest September, but also the wettest for any month on record (20 years). New record max rain in a calendar day with 3.65" on the 16th. Also, the 2nd greatest rainfall in 24-hour period of 3.97". The month has 15 days with measurable precip which sets a new max for any September. The highest min temp was 73 deg., the warmest since 1993. With a wet and cloudy month, September's average daily temp range was 14.9 deg., the least since '96 and the 5th lowest in the last 14 years. Max wind speed of 37 MPH on the 17th was a new 20- year record for September with the previous record of 35 MPH in 1996. The 29.37" barometric reading on the 16th was also a new record low for September in the past 20 years. Arlington - NWS WBC notes: "AFTER AN EXTENDED DROUGHT...RELIEF CAME TO THE WASHINGTON AREA. BETWEEN LARGE LOW PRESSURE AREAS...HURRICANES...AND COLD FRONTS...IN THE PAST 40 DAYS STRETCHING BACK INTO THE FINAL WEEK OF AUGUST... WASHINGTON'S DROUGHT HAS BEEN PUT DOWN. IN THOSE 40 DAYS NATIONAL AIRPORT HAS RECEIVED OVER A THIRD OF OUR AVERAGE YEARLY RAINFALL /14.65 INCHES/. SEPTEMBER HAD 14 DAYS WITH RAIN...INCLUDING RAIN FROM TWO FORMER HURRICANES...DENNIS...AND FLOYD. WE HAD OVER TEN INCHES FOR THE MONTH WHICH WAS ENOUGH TO MAKE THIS THE FOURTH WETTEST SEPTEMBER ON RECORD. THE TOP FOUR WERE: 1934 --> 17.45 INCHES 1975 --> 12.36 1876 --> 10.81 1999 --> 10.27 THIS IN FACT WAS OUR WETTEST MONTH IN 24 YEARS...SINCE SEPTEMBER 1975. OUR HEAVIEST RAINS CAME FROM HURRICANE FLOYD WHICH LEFT OVER FOUR AND A HALF INCHES OF RAIN DURING THE 15TH AND 16TH. SUBURBS TO THE EAST RECEIVED SUBSTANTIALLY MORE. DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE MORE THAN TWO DEGREES BELOW NORMAL WHILE NIGHT TIME LOWS WERE NEAR NORMAL. THIS WAS DUE TO MANY CLOUDY COOL DAYS WHICH KEPT TEMPERATURES FROM SWINGING WILDLY. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS ONLY 86 DEGREES WHILE THE LOWS STAYED ABOVE 50 ON ALL BUT TWO DAYS. WE DID BEGIN OUR AUTUMN DOWNWARD TEMPERATURE SPIRAL. THE FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH SAW DAYTIME HIGHS MAINLY IN THE 80S WHILE THE SECOND HALF FELL TO THE 70S. LOWS THE FIRST HALF WERE IN THE 60S AND 70S...WHILE THE LATTER HALF FELL TO THE 50S AND 60S. Blacksburg - From NWS BCB: SEPTEMBER BROUGHT MUCH NEEDED RAIN TO SOUTHWESTERN AND SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA...BUT NOT ENOUGH TO CAUSE THE WIDESPREAD FLOODING PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED FURTHER EAST IN NORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA. DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF THE MONTH...ON THE 5TH AND 6TH...RAINFALL FROM THE REMAINS OF HURRICANCE DENNIS PRODUCED GENERALLY AROUND 4 TO 8 INCHES ACROSS THE AREA. ON THE 9TH...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT WHICH MOVED THROUGH ON THE 10TH. THE COLD FRONT BROUGHT COOLER TEMPERATURES AND MUCH DRIER AIR. IN ROANOKE...ON THE AFTERNOON OF THE 9TH...DEW POINTS WERE AROUND 70 DEGREES...ON THE AFTERNOON OF THE 10TH DEW POINTS HAD FALLEN INTO THE UPPER 40S. ON THE 15TH AND 16TH...THE PASSAGE OF ANOTHER COLD FRONT COINCIDED WITH THE OVERSPREADING OF RAIN FROM ANOTHER TROPICAL SYSTEM... HURRICANE FLOYD. IN THIS AREA...MOST OF THE RAIN FROM HURRICANE FLOYD WAS EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. GENERALLY 1 TO 5 INCHES FELL...THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS WERE OVER THE PIEDMONT. LITTLE OR NO RAIN FROM THE HURRICANE FELL WEST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. THE PASSAGE OF THE COLD FRONT...WHICH KEPT MOST OF THE TROPICAL RAIN FURTHER EAST...WAS ACCOMPANIED BY GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH. THE WEATHER REMAINED TRANQUIL AGAIN UNTIL THE 27TH...WHEN TROPICAL AIR RETURNED TO THE AREA. WIDESPREAD AND PERSISTENT RAINFALL FOR THE 3 DAY PERIOD FROM THE 27TH TO THE 29TH RESULTED IN TOTALS OF GENERALLY 1 TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN. SINCE THE RAIN WAS SPREAD OUT OVER 3 DAYS...WIDESPREAD FLOODING PROBLEMS WERE AVOIDED. SOME SMALL STREAM FLOODING DID OCCUR...HOWEVER...PARTICULARLY IN AMHERST COUNTY...AND THE JAMES AND DAN RIVERS ROSE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE. A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVED THROUGH ON THE NIGHT OF THE 29TH...PUSHING OUT THE TROPICAL AIR AND ENDING THE RAIN OVER THE AREA. AS THE FRONT PUSHED INTO THE TROPICAL AIR...HOWEVER...3 SMALL...F1...TORNADOES FORMED OVER SURRY COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA AND PATRICK COUNTY VIRGINIA. THE TORNADOES CAUSED PROPERTY DAMAGE...BUT NO FATALITIES. BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...ON THE LAST DAY OF THE MONTH...IT WAS BRILLIANTLY SUNNY...COOL...DRY...AND BREEZY. IN SPITE OF THE ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER...ROANOKE HAD OVER TWICE AS MUCH AS NORMAL AND LYNCHBURG ALMOST THREE TIMES THE NORMAL AMOUNT...THE RESERVOIR AT CARVINS COVE REMAINED WELL BELOW NORMAL. AT THE END OF THE MONTH...THE LEVEL HAD RISEN 9 FEET FROM A MID-AUGUST LOW OF NEARLY 29 FEET BELOW THE SPILLWAY...BUT WAS STILL NEARLY 20 FEET BELOW FULL POND. IN BLACKSBURG... RAINFALL WAS ABOVE NORMAL...BUT NOT AS MUCH AS FURTHER EAST. THE MONTHLY MEAN TEMPERATURE WAS 1.1 DEG BELOW NORMAL. MONTHLY PRECIPITATION WAS 1.57 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. RECORDS SET IN SEPTEMBER: RECORD LOW OF 43 ON THE 1ST. OLD RECORD 45...SET IN 1976. Bridgewater - Clayton notes: "The precipitation for the year now is only .63 inch below normal. It is difficult to believe that we had a severe drought this year. We just didn't get the rain when we needed it. We had a scare from Hurricane Floyd. An early forecast indicated that remnants of Floyd might pass close to us, and there was the possibility of 5 to 12 inches of rain. I well remember Hurricane Fran, and the flooding from nearby North River. I worked hard cleaning up the basement, and made preparations in case we would get flooding. The storm tract changed, and we were spared. The basement needed cleaning up anyway. The landscape here in the Shenandoah Valley is very beautiful now. I don't believe I have ever seen the grass any greener. What a contrast from this time last year!" Centreville - Paul reports that "thanks to Dennis and Floyd, CEN had over 3 times the normal monthly rainfall which puts us at about 133% of the norm for the year. Just in time for autumn grass reseeding!!" Rainfall there was 7.01" above normal while temps were 3.6 deg. above normal. Dulles - The mean temp here was 0.1 deg. below normal while precip was 5.96" above normal. Yearly precip was running 6.23" above the norm. This was the 2nd wettest September here with the top month at 9.39" in 1966. It was also the wettest month since may of 1988 when 10.26" fell. (NWS WBC) Falls Church - Erica notes: "September brought us two tropical storms: Dennis on the 4-6th and Floyd on the 16th. The storms brought much needed rain and and end to the drought. Floyd gave us 5"! Rainfall was way above normal. The month was slightly cooler than normal." Fredericksburg - "One of my largest monthly precip totals due in large part to Tropical Storm Dennis the 1st weekend of the month and from Hurricane Floyd at mid-month. All water restrictions were finally lifted. The total precip could easily have reached well into the double digits in the 2 systems, especially in Floyd, had they tracked as originally predicted." - notes from Ken Hampton - From Dave: "What cannot be said about the devastation caused by Dennis and Floyd? The only thing normal about September were the temperatures. On Saturday the 4th, Hampton suffered over 7 million dollars in damage from an F-2 rated tornado that tracked west for 7 miles from N. Armistead Avenue to the Farmington subdivision. Hundreds of homes and apartments were destroyed. Many were homeless. Winds gusting over 60 MPH and 4.05" of rain added to the misery produced by TS Dennis. Some 10 days later, Floyd caused major flooding on the Peninsula (northern Hampton Roads). A record storm total of 10.30" of rain caused many major interstate highway access roads to close. I-64 was closed for 2 days near Jefferson Avenue. The 10.30" is second only to Hurricane Cleo of September 1964. The monthly rainfall total of 20.20" is the most for any month here and at Langley Field Air Force Base. Strong winds gusting to 70 MPH on the 16th caused widespread tree damage. A new record low barometric pressure occured on the AM of the 16th with 28.96" here. Here are the monthly records set: Rainfall: 24-hour: 10.30" 15th-16th Monthly: 20.20" (all-time September record) Daily: 3.00" 4th 2.10" 7th 5.40" 15th 4.90" 16th Wind: Daily: 64 MPH 4th 56 MPH 5th 59 MPH 15th 68 MPH 16th Barometer: 28.96" 16th (September record) Temperature: 63 22 Record low maximum Herndon - Bob Beall notes that September was a "hydrologic textbook month" ranging from drought to flooding, almost back-to-back. Herndon - Russ notes: "September brought much needed rains to end the drought in our region. The remnants of Hurricane Floyd made their presence known on the 15th and 16th. Peak wind gusts reached 40mph at nearby stations, but my anemomter was offline. Heavy rain and snow seems to short out the connection to the Davis Monitor II. A more optimally positioned replacement is in the works!" Lynchburg - NWS BCB reports: TOTAL MONTHLY RAINFALL WAS ALMOST THREE TIMES THE NORMAL...AND WAS ALMOST A RECORD. RAINFALL RECORDS FOR LYNCHBURG BEGAN BEFORE 1880. THE TOTAL RAINFALL FOR SEPTEMBER 1999 WAS THE SECOND HIGHEST AMOUNT RECORDED SINCE RECORDS BEGAN. THE HIGHEST EVER RECORDED WAS ONLY THREE YEARS AGO...WHEN 12.57 INCHES FELL IN SEPTEMBER 1996. MONTHLY MEAN TEMPERATURE WAS 2.3 DEG BELOW NORMAL. MONTHLY PRECIPITATION WAS 8.81 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. Newport News - Gary is coming back online after his station was destroyed by lightning during the summer. For Hurricane Floyd, Gary recorded a total of 16.28" with 8.49" on the 15th. Between 2 and 3 AM Gary noted a 5-minute total of 0.39" with a 2-hour total of 2.04" between 1 and 3. Norfolk - Jim reported 3.27" of rain from Dennis and 7.76" from Floyd. Heavy thunderstorms during early AM on the 19th with 2.31". Norfolk - NWS AKQ reported Norfolk Airport's average monthly temperature was 0.1 degree above normal. Precip was 9.26" above normal. The average wind speed was 10.4 MPH. Year-to-date rainfall was 8.62" above normal. Portsmouth - The weather story here too was rain, more rain , and the most rain! This station established a new September rainfall record and its all-time monthly precip record with 21.91". Nearly 6" fell with Dennis, over 4.5" came from post Dennis TSRA, and over 10" of rain fell from Hurricane Floyd. Floyd flooded local streets and disrupted the water system here for four days after pump stations flooded and had to be shut down. Of that 10", 8.89" fell from 11AM on the 15th to 11 Am on the 16th. The monthly rainfall record was a whopping 17.27" in excess or 473% of the norm. 15 days had measurable rainfall with six having 1" or more and 3 having a rare 3" or more!! The 7.00" of rain recorded on the 15th was second highest for one calendar day (all-time) after the 7.07" on July 24th of this year! Floyd produced a wind gust here to 60MPH from the WNW and a sustained 1-minute wind of 37 MPH. Electricity was out for 14 hours. The center of the storm moved to the east of the station and a minimum barometric pressure of 28.988" was recorded, the second lowest since the March 13, 1993 blizzard. Yearly precip totaled 61.69" at month's end, some 23.71" above normal. (Another 11.6" would follow in October!) New station records included: Date Value Established 1 37 MPH new daily max wind gust 1 72 new min maximum temp 2 0.67" new daily max precip (didn't take much!) 4 3.55" new daily max precip 7 1.16" new daily max precip 10 3.19" new daily max precip 15 7.00" new daily max precip 16 3.10" new daily max precip 16 60 MPH new daily max wind gust 22 64 new min maximum temp 28 70 tie of max minimum temp 29 71 tie of max minimum temp Richmond - The mean temp was 1.5 degrees below normal while precip was 12.26" above normal. The average wind speed was 8.2 MPH. Year-to-date rainfall was 10.02" above normal. - from NWS Wakefield (AKQ) Mechanicsville - "Lost of rain from Hurricane Floyd and a long power loss too. 7.10" for a daily max rainfall on the 16th. Strong thunderstorms on the 8th with two periodic downpours including sharp lightning." - notes from Glenn Roanoke - Notes from Wendell: "Hurricane Dennis made our area quite wet for September with 4.73" Floyd gave my station 0.42" and winds no more than 20 MPH. Temperatures were 1.1 deg. below normal. Rainfall was 4.62" above normal." Roanoke - NWS BCB reports: OVER TWICE THE NORMAL RAINFALL WAS RECORDED AT THE AIRPORT...WHICH HELPED GREATLY TOWARD ENDING THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS. BY THE END OF THE MONTH...TOTAL RAINFALL FOR THE YEAR IN ROANOKE WAS LESS THAN AN INCH BELOW NORMAL. IN SPITE OF THIS...THE RESERVOIR REMAINS WELL BELOW NORMAL. MONTHLY MEAN TEMPERATURE WAS 1.3 DEG BELOW NORMAL. TOTAL MONTHLY PRECIPITATION: 7.38 INCHES...WHICH WAS 3.88 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. Wakefield - NWS AKQ reports 55.33" of rain for the year. Vienna - September was above average for temperature and extremely wet. The major weather event was Hurricane Floyd. The rainfall deficit has been erased here. Set new precip record for any September and any month in my local records which date to August 1978. Weems - Please take a look at Francis' enclosed personal note. Woodstock - Lauck reports that the year so far is the 3rd wettest in 14 years! A wet January and September brought precip for the year above the 1950-1970 average. Temps were normal. Asheville - The average monthly temperature was 0.6 degrees below normal and the precip total was 1.67" below normal. Monthly average wind speed was 6.0 mph. Brevard - Bob's sends these notes: "The average temperatures for the month, high 78.2, low 50.3, compare with nine year averages of 78.7 and 56.5 degrees F respctively for September (data, excl.rain, for Sept, 1998 is not available). The days were mild and the nights on the cool side, excellent for sleeping. It was a dry month with 1.96" of rain recorded, less than half the ten year average for September of 5.08". Rainfall for the year through the end of September, 34.54", is now 18.02" below the ten year average of 52.56". This is remarkable, considering the flooding that has occurred in the eastern part of the state this year due primarily to Hurricane Floyd." Charlotte - NWS GSP reported the monthly average temp was 3.3 below below normal while total precip was 0.76" above normal. The average wind speed was 6.2 MPH. Raleigh - Floyd and Dennis helped contribute record rainfall for this location. A total of 23.20" fell, breaking the previous station record of 15.06" in September 1996 (Fran). Rainfall for the year is now 18.77" above normal. Since Floyd tracked well east of Raleigh, this area received only minor damage from flooding. Wake County schools were closed for two days with the storm's passage. East of I-95, it was another story. Floyd produced 48 confirmed deaths with more missing, the deaths of 30,500 hogs and 2.1 million chickens, agricultural losses likely exceeding 1 billion dollars, the destruction of 1,461 homes and major damage to 2,071 homes, the relocation of 48,022 people to shelters, the activation of 4,000 national guardsmen for recovery operations, and the closing of over 300 roads. 100% of the City of Princeville near Tarboro was flooded while 50% of Goldsboro was flooded and affected over 24,000 residents. (thanks Bob for the extensive reporting!) Raleigh - NWS RDU reported: SEPTEMBER WAS THE WETTEST MONTH EVER IN RALEIGH. THE TOTAL RAINFALL OF 21.79 INCHES WAS THE HIGHEST MONTHLY TOTAL IN RALEIGH SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1887. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 16.65 IN SEPTEMBER 1996. TROPICAL STORM DENNIS AND HURRICANE FLOYD ACCOUNTED FOR NEARLY 69 PERCENT OF THE MONTHLY RAINFALL TOTAL (14.95 INCHES). THERE WERE 8 DAYS THAT HAD RAINFALL OF MORE THAN ONE INCH AND FIVE DAYS OF MORE THAN TWO INCHES - 5TH (4.84), 15TH (3.95), 16TH (2.54), 27TH (2.26), AND 28TH (2.17). SINGLE DAY RAINFALL RECORDS WERE SET ON FIVE DAYS - 4TH, 5TH, 15TH, 16TH, AND 28TH. THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER BEGAN WITH AN ANNUAL RAINFALL DEFICIT OF 6.27 INCHES AND ENDED 12.33 INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 32.35 INCHES FOR THE YEAR. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT THE AIRPORT WAS TWO DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. A RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 66 WAS SET ON THE 22ND AND A RECORD HIGH MINIMUM OF 70 WAS SET ON THE 28TH. The average montly temp was 2.0 deg. below normal while precip was 18.6" in excess of the norm. Roxboro - Merriell reported: "September brought seasonal monthly average temps although the minimum temp was above normal while the max average was below. More than 4 times the normal rainfall was due to Hurricane Dennis and Floyd." Wilmington - Excerpts from NWS ILM's summary:...RAINIEST MONTH IN PORT CITY HISTORY...IT WAS A MONTH FOR THE RECORD BOOKS IN WILMINGTON IN TERMS OF RAINFALL. THANKS IN LARGE PART TO HURRICANE FLOYD... SEPTEMBER BECAME THE RAINIEST MONTH IN WILMINGTON HISTORY WITH A TOTAL OF 23.41 INCHES (RECORDS DATE TO 1871). NOT ONLY WAS THIS TOTAL OVER FOUR-AND-A-HALF TIMES THE NORMAL FOR THE MONTH (18.37 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL TO BE EXACT)... IT BEAT THE PREVIOUS WETTEST MONTH BY 2.29 INCHES (21.12 INCHES IN JULY 1886) AND THE PREVIOUS WETTEST SEPTEMBER BY 3.31 INCHES (20.10 INCHES IN 1887). THE MOST IN A SINGLE DAY WAS 13.38 INCHES ON THE 15TH WHICH SHATTERED THE ALL-TIME SINGLE DAY MOST (9.52 INCHES ON SEPTEMBER 29 1938) AS WELL AS THE RECORD FOR THE DATE (2.76 INCHES IN 1874). A NEW BENCHMARK WAS ALSO SET FOR RAIN IN A 24-HOUR PERIOD WHEN 14.84 INCHES FELL BETWEEN THE 15TH AND 16TH (THE 9.52 INCHES MENTIONED ABOVE WAS ALSO THE PREVIOUS RECORD FOR THIS). ALL TOLD... 19.06 INCHES OF RAIN FELL DURING THE STORM. AT ONE POINT... RAIN FELL CONTINUOUSLY FOR 34 HOURS AND 6 MINUTES. THERE WERE 14 DAYS WITH AT LEAST 0.01 INCH OF RAIN... 9 WITH AT LEAST 0.10 INCH... 7 WITH AT LEAST 0.50 INCH AND 5 DAYS WITH AT ONE INCH. ODDLY ENOUGH... NONE OF THESE WERE RECORDS. IT WAS ALSO ONE FOR THE BOOKS IN TERMS OF PRESSURE. WHEN THE PRESSURE DROPPED TO 28.33" INCHES AS FLOYD PASSED EARLY ON THE 16TH... THIS ESTABLISHED AN ALL-TIME LOW SEA-LEVEL PRESSURE FOR THE PORT CITY. THE OLD RECORD OF 28.39" WAS SET WITH THE PASSING OF HURRICANE FRAN ON SEPTEMBER 5 1996. THE HIGHEST PRESSURE RECORDED DURING THE MONTH WAS 30.25 INCHES ON THE 25TH. THE MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 1 DEGREE BELOW NORMAL. THE LOW FOR THE MONTH WAS 46 DEGREES ON THE 23RD WHICH BROKE THE RECORD FOR THE DATE (WAS 47 IN 1983). A RECORD WARM LOW WAS TIED ON THE 8TH (77/1990). SUN WAS SOMEWHAT MISSING DURING THE MONTH. THE NORMAL SEPTEMBER SEES ABOUT 61 PERCENT OF POSSIBLE SUNSHINE. IT WAS ACTUALLY NOT THAT WINDY A MONTH IN THE PORT CITY. DESPITE FLOYD... THE AVERAGE WIND SPEED WAS ONLY 7.1 MPH. OF COURSE ALL THE MEMORABLE WINDS OCCURRED ON THE 16TH. IT WAS THE BREEZIEST DAY (A DAY-LONG AVERAGE OF 22.4 MPH) AND HAD THE HIGHEST 2-MINUTE WIND (62 MPH FROM THE NORTHWEST) AS WELL AS THE PEAK GUST (82 MPH FROM THE NORTHWEST). THE AVERAGE WIND ON THE 15TH WAS 17.2 MPH. LET/S NOT ALSO FORGET THAT DENNIS CAME BACK TO VISIT US ONE LAST TIME IN THE FIRST WEEK OF THE MONTH. WHILE HE DIDN/T BRING US NEARLY AS MUCH RAIN AS THE FIRST TIME AROUND... HE DID BRING SOME WIND. WITH A TIGHT GRADIENT BETWEEN HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS THE EASTERN U.S. AND THE STALLED STORM CENTER OFF THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST... THE AVERAGE WIND SPEEDS DURING THE FIRST 5 DAYS OF THE MONTH RANGED FROM 11.4 MPH ON THE 1ST TO 19.0 MPH ON THE 4TH AS THE CENTER MADE ITS CLOSEST APPROACH TO WILMINGTON. Columbia - The average temperature for the month was 1.4 degrees below normal while rainfall was 0.09" below normal. A record low temperature was set on the 1st and tied on the 23rd. - from NWS CAE Charleston - Eleanor's notes show that temps were 1.7 deg. below normal while precip was a whopping 6.08" above the norm! The average wind speed was 8.9 MPH. Year-to-date precip is running 7.02" below normal compared to the 13" deficit through August! The max daily precip was not from Floyd! RECORDS: Charleston International Airport 1st -- Record low 56 previous 63 set in 1934 15th -- 24 hour (calendar day) precip 3.92" (Floyd) previous 2.52" set in 1932 22nd -- Record low 54 previous 55 set in 1983 23rd -- Record low 46 previous 50 set in 1983 28th -- 24 hour (calendar day) precip 4.96" previous 2.08" set in 1957 Downtown Charleston (Custom House) 1st -- Record low TIED 65 previously set in 1972 5th -- Record high TIED 94 previously set in 1975 23rd -- Record low TIED 55 previously set in 1983 No records set or tied in Beaufort in September. September Weather Headlines One of the big weather stories for the Lowcountry was the near miss of Hurricane Floyd. The storm, which once was a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale when it was well southeast of the region, turned to the north well east of Florida and headed straight for Charleston. However, due to a cold front approaching from the northwest, the storm turned to the north-northeast about 150 miles south of the region late on the 15th, eventually making landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina early on the 16th. The biggest effect felt across the Lowcountry was power outages. Over 100,000 customers were without power due to downed trees and power lines. Most customers had their power back within a day after the storm. The most rainfall was recorded across Charleston and Berkeley counties. Rainfall amounts include: 4.30" in the Ladson/Oakbrook area, 3.99" in downtown Charleston, 3.92" at Charleston International Airport, 2.50" in Walterboro, 1.83" in Beaufort, and 0.83" in Allendale; in Georgia: 1.32" in Savannah, 0.85" in Newington, 0.52" in Ludowici, and 0.40" in Dover. The highest wind gust in the Lowcountry was recorded in downtown Charleston at 85 mph. Tides were reported at 3.5 feet above normal in Charleston Harbor, and 3.3 feet above normal at Fort Pulaski (Savannah), GA. However, to the north and east of the Charleston area, catastrophic long term major flooding occurred across Horry, northern Georgetown, Clarendon and Marion counties of northeastern South Carolina as the buckets of rainfall (up to 20") fell to the north and flowed down the major river basins of that region, including the Little Pee Dee, Waccamaw and Great Pee Dee Rivers. Many towns in northeastern South Carolina, including Myrtle Beach and Conway (both in Horry county), had sections under water for several weeks after Floyd passed. Some sections of Interstate 95 were closed in North Carolina due to slowly receding river flooding. Another big weather story for the Tri-County area of the Lowcountry (Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties) was a major flash flood event on the late afternoon and evening of the 28th. A line of heavy thunderstorms developed and stalled across the Summerville, Goose Creek and North Charleston areas. Up to 9 inches of rain fell in a 3 hour period in the Summerville area. Many major roadways were under several feet of water, and a mobile home park in Summerville was evacuated due to flooding. Sections of Ladson, Moncks Corner, Lincolnville and Hanahan also suffered flooding. Some small streams also overflowed their banks. Greenville-Spartanburg - NWS GSP noted the average monthly temp was 0.8 degree above normal while rainfall was 0.92" below normal. The average wind speed was 5.4 MPH. Ruby - Franklin notes: "September was extremely wet and temps were about average." Tri-cities - NWS Knoxville/Tri-cities, TN reports that the Tri-cities/Bristol area recorded monthly average temps 1.4 degrees below normal with precipitation was 2.17" below normal. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATED MEMBERS' E-MAIL ADDRESSES: BRE Bob Keehn Bob_Keehn@citcom.net BRI Clayton Towers Ctowers@rica.net POR Bill Trotter pwrs@pilot.infi.net RAL Bob Woodson woods@pipeline.com CEN Paul Bassett III pbassett@digizen.net WSH David Yowell runamok@runamok.com FCH Erica Page ERICA96661@aol.com RMD Roy Britt rbritt@erols.com NEW Joyce Winfree joywood@shentel.net FRB Ken McKneely mckneelys@email.msn.com STF Danny Jessee doppler2k3@hotmail.com danny@tidalwave.net (while at UVA) WOO Lauck Walton jwalton@shentel.net NPN Gary Leonard garleonard@aol.com LKU Joe Bowers jmbiii@mnsinc.com CHS Eleanor Vallier-Talbot Eleanor.Vallier-Talbot@noaa.gov evaltal@wpmedia.com HAM Dave Kessell tccdkessel@yahoo.com VNA Robert Boott boottr@vrinet.com CHW Dave Lesher wxdave@boo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------------