Climate Amplification: Record Wet Spring in Northeast

May 20, 5 pm EDT Update: The additional 0.19" at Buffalo today brings the monthly total to 5.23", which is over 250% of normal. The seasonal record is extended to 15.55".

Burlington's 0.39" so far today raises the May total to 5.09" and extends the spring record to 16.36".

1:40 am EDT Update: Burlington received another 0.22" of rain on Thursday, bringing the month to date total to 4.70" and extending the season to date record to 15.97".

Original post:
Although persistent heavy rainfall in the Ohio Valley has gotten most of the attention, since it feeds into the record flooding of the Mississippi River, excessive precipitation has extended well into the Northeast. Portions of northern Pennsylvania, northeastern New York, and northern Vermont have experienced over 300% of average rainfall in the last 30 days. With nearly 2 full weeks remaining in meteorological spring (March-April-May), some major reporting stations have had their wettest spring on record.

At Buffalo, where climate records extend back to 1871, the National Weather Service reported last night,

THE 1.12 INCHES OF RAIN THROUGH 9 PM THAT FELL ACROSS THE BUFFALO
AIRPORT MAY 18TH SET A NEW SPRING PRECIPITATION RECORD WITH 15.34
INCHES. THIS ECLIPSES THE ALL TIME SPRING (MAR-MAY) RECORD OF 14.90
INCHES SET BACK IN 1991. (30-YEAR AVERAGE IS 9.38 INCHES). MORE
SHOWERS WILL INCREASE THIS TOTAL FURTHER BEFORE THE END OF THE
MONTH.  

The final total for the day was 1.14", which broke the daily record of 0.99" in 1904. That was the second daily rainfall record this week, following the 1.33" on Sunday, May 15, which broke the record of 1.31" set in 1886.

The spring rainfall record was already broken on Monday at Burlington, Vermont:

AS OF 5 PM EDT...TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR METEOROLOGICAL SPRING 2011
WAS 15.62 INCHES WHICH SURPASSED THE OLD RECORD OF 15.46 INCHES THAT
WAS SET IN 1983.

PRECIPITATION BY MONTH FOR METEOROLOGICAL SPRING 2011 INCLUDE:
MARCH 2011 - 3.39 INCHES
APRIL 2011 - 7.88 INCHES (WETTEST APRIL ON RECORD)
MAY 2011 - 4.35 INCHES (AS OF 5 PM EDT 5/16)  

Burlington records extend back to 1884.

At Syracuse, the 8.53" in April was a new record for the month in a climate history which began in 1902. This immediately follows the driest April on record in 2010.

Image (click to enlarge): 30-day precipitation percentage of normal ending 8 am EDT, May 19, 2011, from National Weather Service