There have been three Septembers since 1900 that Ekalaka has received no precipitation. Those years were 1902, 1903, and 1958. This September the Ekalaka area officially received 3.13 inches of precipitation. That’s the most rain in a September since 2013, and well above the average since 1896 of 3.13”.

In fact, the area has only had more than 3” of precipitation in September 13 times in that time frame. The wettest September on record was in 1971, 5.12”. That year also holds the record for most precipitation in a year at 26.95”. There are only two years on record that precipitation totaled over 25”.

The average temperature in September was normal at 58.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Most of 2017 has seen normal temperatures actually, except for July. The average temperature in July was 77.6 this year, nearly 6.5 degrees above the norm.

September certainly helped drought conditions, but the area isn’t out of the woods yet. The total amount of precipitation through September this year is 11.71”. That means Ekalaka still needs almost 3.5” to get to the average yearly precipitation of 15.17”. August of 2017 (1.03”) was only slightly below the norm of 1.37”, but it was a hot, dry July and extremely dry June that still have the area reeling.