Rockford breaks monthly rainfall total

(from the Rockford Register Star) By Sadie Gurman

August 2007 became Rockford's wettest month on record at 4:54 p.m. today when the National Weather Service station at the Chicago/Rockford International Airport recorded an hourly total of 0.57 inches of rain. That gave the city a total of 13.82 inches since Aug. 1, erasing the old total of 13.55 inches, set in August 1987. Thursday's total was 1.23 inches of rain through 5 p.m., on the heels of 1.19 inches Wednesday. More rain is expected tonight. The normal rainfall through Aug. 23 is 3.01 inches, putting us 10.81 inches above normal. And there are still eight days left in August. When the previous record was set in 1987, widespread flooding struck most of northern Illinois, mainly on Aug. 14, when more than 5 inches of rain fell. Sound familiar? On Aug. 7, 2007, 5.15 inches of rain caused flash flooding in Rockford and Cherry Valley; 12 days later, 3.09 inches fell. The Rock River Valley could see showers and thunderstorms Friday with some of the storms likely to produce heavy rain. Storms could continue until about 1 a.m. Saturday. No rain is forecast through the weekend, but showers are likely to reappear Tuesday night.