Q. How can we still be under average rainfall for the year when this has been wettest year in many years? They have already raised water bills because of drought, and didn’t we have a few years drought that should bring down the averages? I know they measure rain fall at airport, but shouldn’t they try and measure it at a couple of different places to get a better average?
A. According to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, the average rainfall is based off a 30-year normal (1981-2010), which is calculated from accurate totals at the airport.
“Even though this year has been wet, it has been slightly below normal based off the 30-year averages,” said Josh Weiss, a meteorologist. “Official reporting stations with long enough periods of record are few and far between, so we use the airport for ILM.”
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I would like to know what the prevailing wind is in our area of North Carolina.
Why does the weather often vary drastically between Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach?
Date posted: May 21, 2013
User-contributed question by:
STEVE SHEAR
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