Oxford likely to set new rainfall record

Published 2:58 pm Friday, February 23, 2018

This rain has been too much, literally.

Lafayette County is seeing its rainiest February on record and there’s no end in sight. The past couple of days have delivered a deluge on top of what was already a near record.

Last week, the Oxford area had received almost 9 inches of rain in February. Since then, some locations have received three to four inches, or more, making this officially a record-setting month with more five days remaining. Four of those days have a 50 percent or better chance of rain, meaning the longstanding record of 9.93 inches in 1948 will be smashed.

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We had heard this could be a rainy winter but we never imagined anything like this. In fact, considering the extremely cold end of December and January and the exceptionally rainy February, this has been a difficult winter in many respects.

Some residents in low-lying areas have experienced flooding in homes and it could get worse this weekend with saturated grounds and more rain on the way. The best advice is to be careful on roadways and remember that water and electricity don’t mix.

We’ll also hope that March will lighten up and warm up, delivering some delightful days to counter this soggy February.