It seems this was the year for investing in a good umbrella.
Rainfall data available from the National Weather Service confirms what most of us already knew – this year has been a moist one for Cowley County. The entire county has well exceeded the average rainfall totals for this area and some parts of the county are double, or nearly triple, the norm.
In any given year, Cowley County can expect to get 15 to 20 inches of rain by July 1, according to weather service data. With six days to go, all areas of Cowley County have received 25 to 30 inches of rain for the year. A small area in the extreme northwest corner of the county has gotten 35 to 40 inches.
And there’s a chance of rain in the forecast for much of this week. The weather service tracks precipitation using citizen observers and radar information.
The results of such heavy precipitation have been mixed. There is the good – in the form of greener lawns and rejuvenated rivers, streams and lakes – and the not so good – including a monster crop of mosquitos and muddy fields for wheat farmers.
In Winfield, the city lake has been filled to the brim for a while now.
“Water has been running over the spillway for some time,” City Manager Warren Porter said.
