Despite Rainy June, Weather Officials Say Month Isn’t Wettest On Record

While the month of June has been a very rainy month for much of Wisconsin, it’s far from the rainiest on record, according to weather officials.

For much of southern Wisconsin, there’s been some rain roughly every other day in June. Rainfall totals include about 5 inches in La Crosse, 6 inches in Milwaukee and about 7 inches in Madison and Eau Claire.

But, it has been far from the rainiest June.

Denny Van Cleve, of the National Weather Service in Sullivan, said it hasn’t even been as rainy as last June.

“Actually, last year in Madison was our second-rainiest June on record,” he said. “It fell just shy of the record of nearly 11 inches. That was in 2008. Many people probably remember the flooding of 2008, especially near the (Wisconsin) Dells area.”

June’s rain has been good for farm crops throughout Wisconsin. And, no part of the state is currently in any stage of drought.

“The old saying is, ‘rain makes grain’, and there’s lot of truth to that,” said Vance Haugen, an agriculture agent with the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Service in Crawford County.

Haugen said the rains have been a great “recharge” for the soil, and offer a little bit of insurance for the rest of the summer.

“So, even if it were to get really dry, we’d do pretty well. Now, obviously we can’t turn the spigot off. As the crops get larger, they take more moisture,” he said.

The National Weather Service outlook said there’s currently an equal chance of the rest of Wisconsin’s summer being wetter or drier than normal.