County experienced high rain totals in 2018
In 2018, Chester County — like most of the Delaware Valley — was drenched.
It was awash in rainfall. It was bathed. It was doused. It streets and eaves and tree branches were dripping. We were waterlogged, saturated, soaked, sodden, soggy, sopping, soused, washed, and watery. To put it mildly, and shortly, we were wet.
According to precipitation figures from weather stations overseen by the Delaware Environmental Observing System, in the 214-day stretch from June 1 to Dec. 31, there were 101 days when some rainfall was recorded in West Chester.
According to the DEOS’s records from various locations in the county, there were between 5 inches and 7 inches of rainfall in the final month of the year, with the largest downpour coming Dec. 28, when more than 1.50 inches of rain fell in the county seat.
Overall, that means that total rainfall for the year in West Chester was nearly 70 inches — 68.91 inches to be exact, according to the DEOS figure. Contrast that with New Orleans, long considered among the wettest of the nation’s wet cities, which receives an average of about 62 inches of rain a year.
In December, in Atglen, 5.53 inches of rain fell on 13 days in the month; in Chester Springs, 6.39 inches in 13 days; in Longwood, 7.37 inches over 12 days; in West Chester, 7.19 inches over 13 days; and in West Grove, 5.72 inches over 12 days.
Those amount make for some rather stunning totals for the year. In Atglen, there has been 71.20 inches of rain this year; in Chester Springs, 69..91 inches; in Longwood, 67.02 inches; in West Chester, 68.91 inches; and in West Grove, 63.07 inches. Comparatively, in 2017 38.88 inches of rain had been recorded in West Chester as of Dec. 31.
According to published reports, Philadelphia likely ended the year with just more than 61 inches, shy of the record 64.33 inches set in 2011. 2018 saw a jet stream that favored conditions that produce wet weather on an ongoing basis.
“It’s just been a very moisture-rich atmosphere,” said David Robinson, who is New Jersey state climatologist and a Rutgers professor, according to a published account of the 2018 weather conditions. “Everyone remembers just how darn humid it was this summer. The humidity and rain were just very persistent and recurrent.”