Monday's storms produce high rainfall totals across Ann Arbor
Storms produced heavy rainfall in the Ann Arbor area Monday.
Courtesy of Eric Zwart
Storms throughout the day and into the night Monday resulted in high levels of rainfall across Ann Arbor and the surrounding area.
Within 24 hours, Ann Arbor was hit with between 1.54 and 2.93 inches of rain. Milan saw the most rainfall, with 3.25 inches by 12 a.m. on Tuesday.
“The first heavy rainfall event lasted from about 7 a.m. to about 6 p.m.,” University of Michigan weather observer Dennis Kahlbaum said. “The first event was quite long and then thunderstorms moved through with shorter, but heavier rain imbedded. These came later in the evening and overnight.”
Rainfall of an inch or more is typical of thunderstorms, but Washtenaw County has seen a lot of these heavy rainfalls this year, Kahlbaum said.
“Yesterday’s amount was close to or more than 3 inches in most areas,” Kahlbaum said. “I think we’ve seen some higher amounts, but those would be localized. This time we saw about an inch and a half of rain over Washtenaw County and then local rain, which added an inch to an inch and a half.”
Kahlbaum said these 24-hour amounts are considered to be a "5-year" event. That means there is a 20 percent chance of occurrence in any given year.
The most rainfall Ann Arbor has seen was 4.45 inches in August 1998, according to Kahlbaum.
Hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter was reported five miles northwest of Chelsea and hail 1 inch in diameter was reported just a mile southeast of Dexter at 7 p.m. Monday.
Below are the rainfall totals for Ann Arbor and the surrounding area:
- Ann Arbor Northeast (U-M North Campus): 2.66
- Ann Arbor Southeast: 2.93"
- Ann Arbor Westsouthwest: 2.72"
- Ann Arbor Westnorthwest: 2.78"
- Ann Arbor Airport: 1.54"
- Dexter: 2.48"
- Chelsea: 3.07"
- Milan: 3.25"
- Willow Run Airport: 2.45"
- Detroit Metro Airport: 2.57"
There is a 20 percent chance of rain Tuesday afternoon followed by mostly sunny skies for the rest of the week.
Chelsea Hoedl is an intern reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at choedl@mlive.com.
Comments
iris young
Wed, Aug 14, 2013 : 5:05 p.m.
My rain gage registered 4 1/2 inches- in the area near Parker & Lliberty
jns131
Wed, Aug 14, 2013 : 3:13 p.m.
I just heard South East Michigan is going to be declared the new Rain Forest. After looking at my backyard? No surprise there.
grimmk
Wed, Aug 14, 2013 : 10:32 a.m.
Everyone needs to stop complaining. Last year we had a epic drought. This year the corn looks fantastic! I'm glad we had all this rain. Anyone else hear about how bad crops are doing? No? Good! Maybe this year we can harvest our own apples, cherries, corn, wheat, etc.
clownfish
Wed, Aug 14, 2013 : 1:32 p.m.
I read and re-read the article and comments. Help me out, who is complaining about the rain? There are generic complaints about Ann Arbor government and snark about global warming from our usual ignorant Whiners, but no complaints about the rain.
stihl1
Wed, Aug 14, 2013 : 12:13 a.m.
Must be all the global warming.
westsidemom
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 10:13 p.m.
And holy thermal underwear Batman, how about these cool temperatures! I love September but I'd like September in September not August!!!
JW
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 9:08 p.m.
My gauge in SE Ann Arbor read exactly 3 inches for the 24 hours between 9am yesterday to 9am this morning. I could not believe the downpour we experienced around midnight--it went on and on for I do not know how many minutes.
Sammy
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 8:16 p.m.
Sorry, maybe I missed this in a different article... Do we know what is our total so far this summer? When looking at data (like the one from yesterday), I usually like to see a comparison. It would be interesting to see if this trend continues… any prediction on total Snow for this coming winter?
huh7891
Thu, Aug 15, 2013 : 1:12 a.m.
Tons I hope!
Lynn Glazewski
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 8:10 p.m.
I had hail for a few minutes last evening at Plymouth and Huron Parkway.
Resident A2
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 8:03 p.m.
Nice article, Chelsea!
Pika
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 6:58 p.m.
I was out running in it. I kept hoping it would hold off until I got within striking distance of home but I was still 2 miles out when it started to come down heavily.
The Stallion
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 6:22 p.m.
I cant believe the nerve these clouds have! I think we should start a petition to ban rain from entering our city limits along with fireworks, cigarettes, non energy efficient cars and loud music : (
barefootdave
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 6:14 p.m.
Nice photo Eric.
RunsWithScissors
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 4:53 p.m.
How about yesterday's article stating we might get 1/4" of rain? I think rainfall had already exceeded that amount by the time the article was posted.
Indymama
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 5:36 p.m.
Weather is fickle!! Weathermen/women are not always correct!!
81wolverine
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 4:39 p.m.
I swear here in Lodi Township we had more rain than that. Our rain gauge had 3" during the day alone. Then, we got a bunch more overnight. Hopefully, things can dry out for a little while now.
dugster
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 4:36 p.m.
I noticed someone building a really big boat. He said his name was Noah.
Bertha Venation
Wed, Aug 14, 2013 : 5:33 p.m.
HA! Good one, Dug!
Indymama
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 5:35 p.m.
Well, with all that rain, the creek only rose about 1" to 1 1/2inches.
LaMusica
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 4:32 p.m.
That is a great picture!
Tom Teague
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 4:24 p.m.
If we are seeing a trend toward more rain in shorter storms -- which it seems as if we are -- it will have implications for future drainage projects and building codes. I thought I could provide an answer to my own question, but the NOAA site and I are not in synch for some reason. If anyone has access to daily or one-hour totals for a specific station in Ann Arbor over the past few years, please let me know how to obtain it and I'll report back.
Tom Teague
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 9:43 p.m.
Thanks Chris. I didn't realize that wunderground had the historical information I was looking for. Now, I just have to get some time on Titan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to complete the analysis . . . or just use a spreadsheet and create a histogram.
Chris
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 7:42 p.m.
You might want to check with folks at the Weather Underground. Perhaps contact the AOSS department at the U. They're solid.
Chip Reed
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 4:13 p.m.
@chelsea- can you find out ann arbor's total rainfall this year compared to the average? thanks
Chip Reed
Thu, Aug 15, 2013 : 3:08 a.m.
thanks
Chelsea Hoedl
Wed, Aug 14, 2013 : 3:07 p.m.
I spoke with Dennis Kahlbaum who said the year-to-date precipitation total for UM North Campus is 29.22 inches, which is 6.11 inches above normal. He said it varies a great deal by location due to heavy local rains.
Kea
Wed, Aug 14, 2013 : 2:05 a.m.
According to wunderground.com there have been 25.3 inches of rain so far this year. Since the average annual rainfall is 37.6in, that's about normal.
Chelsea Hoedl
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 7:21 p.m.
Chip Reed, I'll look in to it. Stay tuned!
Bertha Venation
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 4:04 p.m.
Sitting in a metal chair in the back yard having a cocktail, enjoying the thunder and lightening.... and waiting for a charge.
BobbyTarsus
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 6:21 p.m.
I hope you're teasing. Otherwise a crispy critter.
gladys
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 : 3:58 p.m.
That big black cloud came right over where I live-thought it was a tornado for sure! Enuf already with the monsoon weather!