Many New England residents and others around the country may have noticed the recent abnormalities in recent weather. Personally, I began to notice this change in June or July of 2023. Now that it is winter and people are noticing a lack of snow they will begin to blame “global warming” and “climate change”, while these things are a possibility, there are other possible causes.
According to NERFC, in July of 2023, Worcester county received about 7.5” more precipitation than normal. This drastic increase in rain was hardly unnoticed. Even in neighboring states such as Vermont, there were countless washouts and towns destroyed by this extreme weather.
This sort of heavy precipitation did not stop in July, but has carried through the months even until now. Lakes and rivers in the surrounding area have been seen overfilling continuously as they cannot keep up with all the rain and runoff.
Even during the beginning of winter, Vermont and New Hampshire saw multiple feet of snow prior to Christmas. Aside from a few snow banks, nearly all of it was melted by approximately 4” of rain within a two day time frame. Keep in mind, this was taking place in towns all the way up and into Canada.
The Atlantic posted the volcano eruptions that occurred in 2023. Many people may be wondering, what does a volcano have to do with rainfall? Prior to, and during eruption, volcanoes release thousands of tons of moisture and chemicals into the atmosphere which all contribute to added precipitation.
This odd and not often thought of information may be the reason that we have seen such high amounts of precipitation in recent months. Although many eruptions occur thousands of miles away, they still heavily contribute to the moisture content within the atmosphere.
Next time you wonder why the weather is a little funky, just remember there are many possibilities for its quirkiness.
