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Heavy rain in the form of showers and thunderstorms plagued the Mount Washington Valley throughout the summer of 2009. Scroll down to view information regarding
North Conway's newest weather record that was a result of the rainy weather. Included within the content of this page is a detailed summary with relation to the
summer months of June, July, and August. Four weather graphs accompany this review to illustrate rainfall and temperature for this season and those of the past.
Wettest Summer On Record North Conway, New Hampshire, received a record breaking 23.54 inches of rain for the meteorological summer of 2009. This total enabled the time period between June 1 through August 31 to become the wettest summer on record. The year of 1998 held the title for ten years with 18.90 inches, but was surpassed last year when the summer months of 2008 recorded 19.36 inches of rain. The season total for the summer of 2009 marks the second consecutive summer that has received record-breaking rainfall. This season also marks the first time in at least fifty years that over twenty inches of rain accumulated between June 1 to August 31. Records for North Conway date back prior to 1960 and are courtesy of the National Weather Service. Rainfall measurements are recorded in inches while temperature readings are measured in degree Fahrenheit.  Monthly Review for Summer 2009 The meteorological summer, which lasts from June 1 to August 31, began with clear skies for the first nine days of June. Conditions quickly changed when fog, rain, and drizzle, became the prominent feature for the final 18 of the 22 days in June 2009. A rainfall total of 6.99 inches (+3.01 inches) accumulated during this time. As a result, the month became the wettest June since June 1998 when 12.45 inches of rain accumulated. The rainy pattern helped to produce an average temperature of 60.4° F (-4.0° F) for the month of June. This made it the third coldest June in the past fifty years with only June 1982 (60.3° F) and June 1968 (60.1° F) averaging with cooler temperatures. The cold and wet pattern continued throughout July. A total of 9.72 inches of rain (+5.74 inches) accumulated during this month, which enabled July 2009 to become the wettest July on record. The old record was set thirteen years ago when July 1996 recorded 9.20 inches of rain. The precipitation helped to produce chilly high temperatures averaging eight degrees below normal and a monthly mean of 64.0° F (-5.3° F). As a result, July 2009 became the coldest since July 1962 (63.8° F).
August received some relief from Mother Nature as scattered showers and thunderstorms produced a total of 1.20 inches during the first twenty days of the month. The wet
pattern finally broke with true summerlike conditions that consisted of bright sunshine, humid air, and warm temperatures. This enabled the month of August to ultimately end
with slightly above normal readings. A strong cold front moved through the vicinity during the evening of the 21st and produced 2.84 inches of rain from severe thunderstorms.
Occasionally heavy rain continued through the end of the month. The increase of precipitation resulted in above normal rainfall, which gave August 2009 a grand total of
6.93 inches (+2.78 inches).
Graph 3 of 4: Expands upon graph #2 by adding three more seasons.  Fourth Coldest Summer As previously noted, rainfall throughout the summer of 2009 led to a record total of 23.54 inches, which was 12.01 inches above normal. The season was also noteworthy for the very cold temperatures during June and July. Despite a moderation in August, the season ended with a mean of 64.2° F (-2.1° F) and settled into fourth place for the coldest summer in the past fifty years. The summer of 1964 remains to be the coldest summer on record with a seasonal average of 63.8° F.
The following are some links that are related to the information on this page. Daily Statistics - Climatological summaries for June, July, August, and more. Local Extremes - Eighteen top ten lists that includes 'Wettest Summer'. Year In Review - A recap for 2008 that includes another busy summer season. Live Conditions - Latest observations from the Mount Washington Valley. |
