Scott County residents might have realized that it's been a little wet this month.
In fact, it's been abnormally wet. During a time on the calendar that typically sees the northern Cumberland Plateau region begin its transition into the driest time of year, September 2018 will likely go down as the wettest September on record in Oneida.
The National Weather Service only maintains weather observation records for Oneida since 1952. Since that time, however, the most rain Oneida has ever received in the month of September was in 2003, when 8.89 inches accumulated.
So far this year, 7.81 inches of rain have accumulated. That was after another half-inch of rain fell during thunderstorms on Saturday. With one full week of the month remaining and rain chances plentiful during that week, it seems likely that the record will fall.
Already, it is a top-five wettest September in Oneida, trailing only 2003 and 1982 (7.84 inches). Saturday's rainfall pushed September 2018 ahead of 2004, when 7.52 inches of rain accumulated.
An average September sees only 3.8 inches of rain in Oneida. It's the second-driest month of the year, behind October, which sees an average of 3.6 inches of rain.
So far, though, this September has been the second-wettest month of 2018 in Oneida, behind only February, which saw 10.76 inches of rain recorded in Oneida.
The National Weather Service's Morristown weather forecast office is currently forecasting at least a 70 percent chance of rain each day through Wednesday, with a 60 percent chance of rain on Thursday before things finally begin to dry out with the passage of a frontal boundary at the end of the week.
