Record down pours challenging to some and beneficial to others
By: Terry Kovarik
Updated: October 15, 2012
"Several cities in the Fox Valley set two day October records, including over three-and-a-half inches in Oshkosh and Appleton," said Jeff Last,
Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Green Bay.Agriculture agents say standing water in fields is a good thing for farmers. Since September, precipitation around the area has been down about two-and-a-half inches. The pace and amount of the rainfall will help next year's growing season.
"We didn't have near as much runoff where precipitation was able to soak in and recharge our groundwater a little bit. We didn't see as near as much erosion," said Mark Hagedorn, Brown County Agriculture Agent.
Among the drawbacks to two days of steady rainfall was when it mixed with fallen leaves to clog storm drains. Drivers faced large puddles on area roadways but no serious flooding. Public works crews had little trouble removing leaves. But with more rain predict, public works supervisors hope homeowners keep an eye on and storm water drains.
"Rake that stuff up, pull it away so you don't make a leaf dam. So that when it rains, the water goes down the storm sewer. We want to take the storm water away from the residence," said Chris Pirlot, Director of Traffic, Parking and Operations for Green Bay.
With more rain in this weeks forecast, public works crews say picking up the pace of leaf collection with depend on the amount of fallen leaves, not rainfall.
Local 5's Terry Kovarik has the story.
