It seems like only yesterday when Iolans were forced out of their homes when the swollen floodwaters of Elm Creek burst past their banks.
Much of the southern regions of town were evacuated for several days — and more than 100 homes ultimately destroyed — from the Flood of 2007, dubbed by many as Iola’s “Storm of the Century.”
Fast forward five years.
A statistical anomaly from late June 2007 flood illustrates just how long the 2012 drought has persisted.
Over a five-day stretch, from June 27 through July 1, 2007, Mother Nature was relentless, dropping more than 17 inches of rain in Iola.
That five-day storm exceeds Iola’s total rainfall since Jan. 1 this year — by nearly 2 inches. Since the start of 2012, only 15.73 inches of rain has fallen, nearly 9 inches below normal.
The shortage is exacerbated by the searing heat that blanketed the region in June and July.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, it would require a storm similar to the 2007 deluge for much of eastern Kansas just to escape the drought.
An NOAA map released last week indicated eastern Kansas would require about 12 to 15 inches of rainfall to revert to a “normal” year, based on the Long Term Palmer Drought Severity Index (or PDSI), which also considers such things as soil conditions and air temperature in addition to rainfall totals.
Even worse, NOAA’s long-term forecast predicts the drought conditions will persist through much of middle America at least through November.
THIS YEAR has a good chance of being the driest ever, or at least since the Register began recording weather statistics well over a century ago.
This year’s 15.34 inches is nearly 7 inches shy of 1936’s 22.31, the dry-year record for Iola. Normal rainfall for a year is 37.74 inches.
In 1936, 7.77 inches fell in September and rescued the year from being even more desert-like.
