By ROBERT S. MERRILL
Assistant editor
The 2011-12 water year ended on Sept. 30 much drier than normal in the Preston area at 10.62 inches. Normal is 16.97 inches. That is close to 63 percent of normal.
Only one year ago the water year ended wetter than normal in Preston at 24.26 inches.
King Smith, a junior high school science teacher who keeps official records for the National Weather Service, said the year was in the top 10 for lack of precipitation, but not temperatures.
King Smith shakes bugs out of his dry rain gauge last Friday.
“The problem was the lack of rain. The recent water year, that ended Sept. 30, was very disappointing to say the least. Now we have been officially classified as in a severe to extreme drought.
“The outlook for the winter is not good with long-range forecasts of above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation,” he said.
“The average high for the year was 62.1 degrees and normal is 59.3. The low was 34.3 degrees and normal is 32.5. Again this is not abnormal by any means. We have had much warmer and drier years.”
This story is sponsored by Preston Drug.
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