NORFOLK, Va. — From early October through now, we've struggled to squeeze out any substantial rainfall. From Monday's cold front though, we finally received more than 0.1" of rain in a day.
On Monday, passing light showers dropped 0.17" at the Norfolk International Airport. Monday's very small rainfall total surpassed the entire month of October's rainfall by 0.11".
Veterans Day accounts for one of the only two days we've received rain at ORF. On November 8, we broke our longest-ever dry spell with a mere 0.02" of rainfall.
It's been a while since we've picked up at least 0.1" in one day at the airport. The last time was on September 30, over 40 days ago. On that day, we picked up 0.3".
Of course, these tiny amounts of rain won't quench our drought. With the lack of substantial rainfall since the beginning of October, areas around the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula and Eastern Shore are experiencing severe drought conditions.
This may come as a surprise, but year-to-date, we still have a surplus of rainfall. As of Tuesday, November 12, we are about 0.96" above normal. That's because we received an abundance of rain in March, May and July. March 2024 became the second wettest March ever at ORF with more than 10" of rainfall that month.
In May, we received about 5.6" inches of rain, and in July, we received another 10"+ of rain.
So far for November, we're about 1" below normal. To find our when our next rain chance could be, read our forecast discussion.
