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Jaffrey’s Silver Ranch Airpark, where Harvey Sawyer records precipitation that is reported locally and to the National Weather Service. -
Harvey Sawyer, owner of Jaffrey’s Silver Ranch Airpark, uses an old-fashioned rain barrel to demonstrate how he measures the inches of precipitation in Jaffrey, which is reported locally and to the National Weather Service. -
Harvey Sawyer, owner of Jaffrey’s Silver Ranch Airpark, said rainfall was above average for June, and is headed that way in July. -
Jaffrey’s Silver Ranch Airpark owner Harvey Sawyer said that while Jaffrey did not see as much rain as the Swanzey and Keene areas Monday, he still measured 1 1/4 inches. -
Harvey Sawyer, owner of Jaffrey’s Silver Ranch Airpark, recorded rain on 20 out of 30 days in June, and eight out of the first 10 days in July.
Silver Ranch Airpark in Jaffrey records precipitation for the National Weather Service, using both automated systems and a manual collection rain bucket that has been in use for decades.
Harvey Sawyer, owner of the airpark, said he watched Monday’s deluge came over the Swanzey and Keene area, causing washouts of multiple roads in Swanzey and Winchester – along with damage to the Liberty Farm Road bridge in Antrim after flooding from the Island Pond Dam in Stoddard – but that the collection bucket in Jaffrey didn’t show quite so dramatic results.
However, he said rainfall was above the average for June, and already headed that direction for July. Since July 1, Sawyer has recorded a total of 4 1/2 inches of rain. About 2.8 of those inches were recorded between July 1 and 5, with the remainder having been collected over the course of two days, specifically 1 1/4 inches on Monday.
“That’s quite a lot,” Sawyer said.
Comparatively, June had a total recorded precipitation of 5.62 inches over the entire month, where a monthly average of about 4 inches is more typical. Sawyer said while June didn’t have torrential rains, the amount accumulated due to the amount of days that had at least some showers. In June, Sawyer recorded rainfall on 20 out of the 30 days. So far, there was rain nine out of the first 11 days in July.
Andy Pohl, a 20-year veteran forecaster for the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine, said that monitoring sites in Concord are recording about 5 1/2 inches above normal precipitation for the entire year.
“Primarily it’s just been this upper-level, low-pressure system that has been stalled over us for most of June and even now in July,” Pohl said. “That is a function of the North Atlantic oscillation. We’re just in a stagnant pattern. The same pattern is causing the heat out of the Midwest.”
Pohl said forecasts are anticipating a break in precipitation over the next few days, which he said is needed to help the accumulated water from recent storms drain off. Pohl advised watercraft users who might want to take advantage of the sunny weather to use caution, however, as the high precipitation results in high water and fast-moving rivers, which can pick up debris such as logs and trees and create swimming and boating hazards. Pohl encouraged people who do go out on the water to wear life jackets at all times.
“Most of the rivers in New Hampshire…some of them are still in flood stages,” Pohl said. “It should come down, but there’s still going to be more water than usual for this time of year.”
Pohl said the amount of rain is “not unprecedented,” but is lingering longer than is usual for this time of year in the state, evidenced by the high totals collected in Concord over the past month-and-a-half.