Hillsboro has received 17.78 inches of precipitation so far this year, based on observation data, according to Christopher Hogue, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service station in Wilmington.
Hogue said the average rain total for this time of year is 18.61 inches, making this year’s total slightly under that average, but above the rain total at this time in 2021 of 15.55 inches.
Hogue said that it has been a wetter year than last year and that might be why it seems like it’s rainier than it is. He said a high year-end total would be a year like 2011 when Hillsboro received almost 63 inches of rain, while lows would be in the 28 to 30 inches.
Hogue said that while it might seem like it has rained a lot already this year, it might be because the area got a lot of rain all at once, but there were also other periods of the year that were lower. He said it might seem like it’s been rainy, but when all the “little pieces” are added together, it’s difficult to observe the total amount of rain for the year unless it rains “copious amounts” for something like a whole month.
Concerning the possibility of future precipitation, Hogue said there is an “active pattern” coming up but that it’s uncertain where it will fall and hit heaviest.
“We’re looking at late tomorrow (Wednesday) night,” Hogue said. “Some rain, it may end up falling south of Hillsboro, though, so it’s one of those hit-or-miss things. Some parts of the area could get pretty high amounts and other parts get missed completely, it’s too far south, too far north. But active weather as far as several systems moving through — each one has a chance of producing thunderstorms. Thunderstorms this time of year, even if they’re isolated, if they happen to hit your location, it could get a good amount of rain out of it.
”At this time is where you would get a lot of our rain this time of year. You would get several systems move through, and one or two of them might hit you, and you have an inch from each one. It adds up. We do have an active period coming up over the next week or so.”
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
