Rainfall nearly 5 inches above June average

If you ask the experts if the recent weather is normal for this time of year, you’ll get conflicting answers. \n“I would say it’s what we should expect from Indiana,” said meteorologist Jason Puma of the National Weather Service in Indianapolis. “We do get our fair share of severe weather. It’s part of living in the Midwest.”\nThe National Weather Service reports the average amount of rainfall for this point in June in Indiana is 1.58 inches. Indiana has had 6.29 inches so far this month. Since May 30, Monroe County has had two tornado warnings, four tornado watches and 11 severe thunderstorm warnings.\n“I don’t think you could call it pretty average,” said Professor Scott Robeson of the departments of geography and statistics. “Some of the precipitation amounts that we have gotten are very, very high.”\nRobeson specializes in the study of climate change and applied climatology. Robeson said some of the statistics he has seen happen very rarely.\n“What we typically look at are return periods. For any \ngiven day, the rainfall we’ve had is pretty average,” Robeson said. “We have had 2.5 inches of rain a day before, but the problem is we had three of those days last week (June 1-7). Martinsville’s precipitation is definitely more than a 100 year event, more like a 200 year event.”\nRobeson has lived in Indiana for 16 years, and he lived in Delaware and British Columbia before that. \n“The amount of rain in such short periods of time is definitely the highest rainfalls that I have seen,” he said.\nPuma cites specific examples of recent weather to back up his opinion, like the 2004 Indy 500 race day tornadoes and the 2003 Fourth of July storms.\n“What we do see that’s very typical is different extremes,” said Puma, “and the extremes add up to the average.”\nSome parts of Indiana certainly have seen the extremes with last weekend’s flash flooding that dumped up to 10 inches of water in some areas of the state. The Monroe County Red Cross set up a shelter at Spencer Elementary School in Spencer to aid victims of the flooding and housed about 50 displaced residents from the surrounding areas. The Red Cross was recently able to close the shelter as the last of the displaced were able to get back into their homes. The organization still keeps the school open as a service center, open from 8 a.m to 8 p.m.\n“There are case workers there who are assisting individuals who have had damage to their homes,” said Sue Gulley, executive director of the American Red Cross of Monroe County. “We’re also doing damage assessment for both Monroe and Owen counties.”\nAccording to Gulley, the Red Cross had around 400 volunteers helping displaced Hoosiers. The volunteers and the centers had assistance, food and water ready for the victims.\n“When we had the flash floods on Wednesday, we had calls right after that,” Gulley said. “We had Red Cross volunteers go out and provide assistance then. It has just carried right through. We have had an outpouring of financial assistance from the community.”\nHopefully there won’t be much more need for that assistance. According to Puma, there’s nothing out of the ordinary for Indiana’s extended outlook in years to come.\n“There are equal chances for amounts of rainfall, however there will probably be lower temps in southwest Indiana,” Puma said.\nAnyone in need of assistance can contact the Red Cross at the 24-hour helpline 1-866-GETINFO. Donations can be placed online at www.monroe-redcross.org or by phone at 332-7292.