After a series of snow storms, rain and floods earlier this year, northern Michigan has experienced the wettest year on record so far.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, from January to April, northeastern counties have seen their average rain fall well above average.
- Alpena: 7.2 inches above average
- Alcona: 8.18 inches above average
- Montmorency: 6.22 inches above average
- Presque Isle: 5.81 inches above average
- Cheboygan: 5.98 inches above average
Joe DeLizio, a meteorologist in the Gaylord National Weather Service, said northern Michigan has accumulated over 18 inches of rain since January. During typical years, that accumulation would be around 10 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
“We’ve had an active spring,” DeLizio said. “We had a pretty active middle to end portions of winter, so you put that together and that’s how we get one of the wettest years so far on record.”
DeLizio said this record could change, depending on how the rest of the year pans out.
A lot of the precipitation came in March and April, DeLizio said, when there were heavy snow storms and then a series of heavy rain in late March into early April.
Last year, Alpena received 7.06 inches of precipitation from January to April, according to data from the National Weather Service. The day with the highest amount of rain in April was April 12 when Alpena saw an accumulation of 2.24 inches.
Along with being a record year so far, some areas in northern Michigan saw the second wettest April on record, depending on the area. DeLizio said many areas in northern Michigan saw close to 6 inches of rain for the entire month. Northern Michigan typically receives around 3 inches of rain during April.
The wettest April on record was in 2011, when Alpena received 6.54 inches.
Cheboygan saw the wettest year on record when it received 9.31 inches of rain in April.
DeLizio said looking forward to the next couple of weeks, the National Weather Service is looking at normal conditions. He said his team is expecting the weather to continue to warm up as the month ends, and more moisture to come along with that.
“We have to monitor and see exactly on a week to week basis how severe this potential (for thunderstorms) might become,” he said. “That’s certainly something to look for going into the summer season.”
