When Wichita set a record for most rain in a 24-hour period in mid-September, an already wet year took on historic proportions.
A slow-moving boundary tapped into the remnants of Tropical Storm Lowell on September 12, dumping 10.31 inches of rain on Wichita. Another half-inch fell two days later, pushing the city’s total for the year beyond 46.6 inches.
That was less than 4 inches from the wettest year ever in Wichita – 50.48 inches in 1951 – with more than three months still to go in 2008. A new record was a sure thing, right?
Not so fast. Since then, the skies have shut off. Little more than .02 of an inch has been recorded since then. I rather doubt anyone’s complaining, though – especially those with flooded basements or overwhelmed sump pumps. The region desperately needed to dry out.