A bit of rain on September 30 was not enough to prevent the month from being among the driest Septembers on record in Southern New England. It was particularly dry in Rhode Island and Eastern Massachusetts. Less than 0.75″ of rain fell in Providence during the month. It was the second driest September on record, trailing only 1914 when there was only 0.48″ of rain. Records have been kept in the Providence area since 1904. While not in the top-10 driest in Boston, it was the driest since 1959 with just 0.7″ of rain. Blue Hill Observatory recorded 0.41″ of precipitation – the lowest September total since record keeping began in 1885.
A rainstorm on October 1 will deliver more rain than fell in all of September to parts of RI and SE MA. The rain is a welcome sight as a moderate drought has developed during the dry stretch since mid-August.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 1024 AM EDT WED OCT 1 2014 ...HOW DRY WAS SEPTEMBER?... ...CORRECTION FOR BLUE HILL OBSERVATORY LCD AND COOP DATA STREAMS... THE FOLLOWING IS A PRELIMINARY REVIEW OF RAINFALL TOTALS FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER. TIMES IN WHICH MONTHLY RAINFALL TOTALS CONCLUDED ARE PROVIDED WITH RESPECT TO THE STATIONS. RANKING WITH RESPECT TO DRIEST SEPTEMBERS ON RECORD /WITH 1 BEING THE DRIEST/ ARE PROVIDED. LOWEST RAINFALL TOTALS FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER ARE ALSO PROVIDED. ALL DATA PRESENTED HEREIN IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO REVISION. ________________________________________________________________ AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING STATIONS ENDING MIDNIGHT OCTOBER 1ST. * RECORDS WITH 50-YEARS OR MORE OF DATA. MONTHLY RECORD RECORDS ID LOCATION TOTAL RANK LOWEST BEGIN -- -------- ------- ---- ------ ------- EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS... BED BEDFORD 0.92 2 0.67 1957 1949* BVY BEVERLY 1.23 1 --------- 1999 BOS BOSTON 0.70 11 0.21 1914 1872* MQE BLUE HILL LCD 0.41 1 --------- 1885* LWM LAWRENCE 1.49 2 1.23 2005 1998 EWB NEW BEDFORD 0.86 1 --------- 1998 OWD NORWOOD 0.55 1 --------- 1998 PYM PLYMOUTH 0.75 1 --------- 1998 TAN TAUNTON 1.25 1 --------- 1998 CAPE COD AND THE ISLANDS... CQX CHATHAM 1.23 2 0.72 2001 1998 HYA HYANNIS 0.98 1 --------- 1998 MVY MARTHAS VINEYARD 1.27 2 0.42 2013 1998 ACK NANTUCKET 2.37 17 0.07 1971 1948* CENTRAL AND WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS... FIT FITCHBURG 1.64 2 1.19 2009 1998 ORE ORANGE 1.63 2 1.48 2009 1998 CEF SPRINGFIELD 1.09 2 0.82 1953 1942* ORH WORCESTER 2.72 53 0.21 1914 1892* RHODE ISLAND... UUU NEWPORT 0.57 1 --------- 1998 PVD PROVIDENCE 0.74 2 0.48 1914 1904* WST WESTERLY 0.79 1 --------- 1998 NORTHERN CONNECTICUT... BDL BRADLEY INTL 1.62 24 0.20 1914 1905* HFD HARTFORD 1.21 10 0.55 1997 1920* IJD WILLIMANTIC 1.72 3 1.37 2005 1998 SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL NEW HAMPSHIRE... AFN JAFFREY 1.24 1 --------- 1998 ________________________________________________________________ COOPERATIVE OBSERVING STATIONS ENDING 7 AM SEPTEMBER 30TH. * RECORDS WITH 50-YEARS OR MORE OF DATA. MONTHLY RECORD RECORDS ID LOCATION TOTAL RANK LOWEST BEGIN -- -------- ------- ---- ------ ------- WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS... INCLUDING FRANKLIN...HAMPSHIRE...HAMPDEN COUNTIES AMHERST 1.34 9 0.52 1914 1893* GREENFIELD 1.60 2 1.55 2009 2000 SUNDERLAND 0.98 2 0.82 1984 1978* WARE 2.74 35 1.00 2009 1937* WESTFIELD 1.76 1 --------- 2007 WORTHINGTON 1.53 1 1.53 2014 1994 CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS... INCLUDING WORCESTER COUNTY ASHBURNHAM 2.59 25 0.47 1948 1942* BARRE FALLS DAM 3.32 28 0.99 1984 1959* BIRCH HILL DAM 1.55 12 0.64 1964 1948* BUFFUMVILLE LAKE 1.34 5 0.77 1959 1959* EAST BRIMFIELD LK 1.69 12 0.62 1986 1962* HARDWICK 4.03 6 1.11 2009 2007 MILFORD 0.77 6 0.42 1941 1931* NORTHBRIDGE 0.62 1 --------- 1964* SOUTHBRIDGE 1.39 12 0.29 1948 1926* TULLY LAKE 2.44 18 0.79 1964 1949* NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS... INCLUDING MIDDLESEX...ESSEX...SUFFOLK COUNTIES BEVERLY 1.78 5 1.45 1998 1996 LOWELL 2.12 38 0.13 1914 1892* MARBLEHEAD 1.25 2 1.19 1997 1984 MAYNARD 2.00 11 1.03 1990 1963* NEWBURYPORT 2.09 24 0.51 1941 1931* SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS... INCLUDING BRISTOL...NORFOLK...PLYMOUTH...BARNSTABLE...DUKES COUNTIES BLUE HILL COOP 0.36 1 --------- 1885* BRIDGEWATER 1.17 2 1.15 2003 2003 CHATHAM 1.73 6 0.68 2001 1972 EAST SANDWICH 1.45 1 --------- 2010 EAST WAREHAM 1.52 19 0.36 1930 1912* EDGARTOWN 1.68 15 0.31 2013 1946* FRANKLIN 0.65 3 0.26 1941 1926* MIDDLEBORO 0.75 4 0.14 1941 1893* ROCHESTER 0.63 2 0.48 1957 1952* TAUNTON NWS 0.74 1 --------- 1997 WOODS HOLE 2.13 1 --------- 2010 SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE... INCLUDING CHESHIRE COUNTY FITZWILLIAM 1.96 15 0.23 1948 1931* JAFFREY SILVERRANCH 1.25 1 --------- 2011 KEENE 1.78 17 0.20 1948 1893* OTTER BROOK 1.81 10 0.31 1964 1958* SURRY MOUNTAIN 1.55 9 0.14 1948 1948* SOUTH CENTRAL NEW HAMPSHIRE... INCLUDING HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY EAST MILFORD 1.61 2 1.20 2010 2008 GREENVILLE 1.66 5 1.28 1998 1988 HUDSON 2.08 8 0.94 2009 1986 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST CONNECTICUT... INCLUDING HARTFORD...TOLLAND...WINDHAM...AND EASTERN LITCHFIELD COUNTIES BARKHAMSTEAD 0.92 3 0.63 1948 1932* BURLINGTON 1.68 9 0.24 1948 1932* HAMPTON 1.71 3 1.39 2009 2004 STAFFORDVILLE 2.00 4 1.11 2010 2002 STORRS 1.53 21 0.45 1914 1888* WEST THOMPSON LK 1.50 6 0.65 1986 1963* RHODE ISLAND... INCLUDING PROVIDENCE AND KENT COUNTIES COVENTRY 1.00 1 --------- 2011 NORTH FOSTER 0.74 1 --------- 1975 WOONSOCKET 0.62 1 --------- 1948* $$