McGinnis Quoted on ‘Rain, Rain…Won’t Go Away’

Nathaniel McGinnis, Geography graduate student and Associate Director of Ohio University’s Scalia Lab for Atmospheric Analysis, was quoted in a July 12 Athens Messenger story on “Rain, rain … won’t go away!“

You’d have to be living under a big soggy rock not to notice the high amount of rainfall southeast Ohio has received this summer. While many plants are enjoying the extra showers, some crops and industries aren’t faring so well from the frequent downpours.

According to Nathaniel McGinnis, associate director of Ohio University’s Scalia Lab for Atmospheric Analysis, Athens has received 7.62 inches of rain since June 1 — 5.97 inches in June and 1.65 inches so far this month. The average amount of rainfall for June over the past 30 years has been 3.78 inches and the average for July has been 4.54 inches….

McGinnis said it’s part of a continuing pattern the area has experienced for the past three years. He said that the ridging in the west, a region with relatively higher altitudes, has sinking air or a deep warm mass that brings warmer and drier weather, whereas troughs in the east bring cooler and cloudier weather patterns.
“It’s been dry in the west so it’s been wet and cool in the east,” McGinnis said.
When asked if the area will ever get a break from the rain this summer, McGinnis said, “The short answer is no. I don’t think it will continue to extend though and we will have some breaks but it’s temperamental.”