John Wheeler: Is the 'wet cycle' on the wane?

WDAY file photo

FARGO — From 1881 through 1992, average precipitation in the Red River Valley was around 19 inches a year. Since 1993, the average annual precipitation is up about 20% to about 24 inches. This higher base is the primary reason for the increase in flooding in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. It is difficult to identify any simple cause for this increase and it is also difficult to know when it will end. It may already be waning.

The last few years have been consistently a little drier. Flooding has been less frequent and less extreme. More significantly, the top few feet of soil is not as consistently wet as it was for much of the past three decades. The Dust Bowl lasted twelve years, from 1929 to 1941, but this recent wet period has lasted much longer. If our weather is going back to a more consistent dry pattern, it will require some adjustments to agriculture and urban lifestyle.

John Wheeler is Chief Meteorologist for WDAY, a position he has had since May of 1985. Wheeler grew up in the South, in Louisiana and Alabama, and cites his family's move to the Midwest as important to developing his fascination with weather and climate. Wheeler lived in Wisconsin and Iowa as a teenager. He attended Iowa State University and achieved a B.S. degree in Meteorology in 1984. Wheeler worked about a year at WOI-TV in central Iowa before moving to Fargo and WDAY..