Has it rained enough in Cleveland?
The last rain heavy enough to soak in fell over a week ago. What has fallen since wet the leaves and no more.
Cleveland has had 30.3mm of rain in the last 30 days. A normal October here brings 92.1mm — and the driest October in the last 30 years still managed 44.2mm. This is drier than anything on that record.
Rain in Cleveland through a normal year
Across a normal year Cleveland gets about 1095.8mm of rain, most of it in June (113.7mm) and least in February (68.7mm).
A normal October in Cleveland has rain on 15 days. Only 11 of them bring enough to reach a root.
That makes Cleveland one of the wetter places this site covers in the United States in October — 13th of 30, against Seattle at the wet end (131.5mm) and Las Vegas at the dry end (8.4mm).
What that means for what you grow
- Pots and hanging basketsWorst hit, and first to suffer. Very little soil, fully exposed, and nothing to fall back on — in this weather they can empty in a day.
- Salad and leafy vegShallow-rooted and quick to bolt once they run dry. First priority of anything in the ground.
- Beds and bordersA long soak that reaches the roots is worth more than a daily sprinkle, which only wets the surface and is gone by lunchtime.
- Established shrubs and treesFine as they are. They draw from far deeper than a dry spell reaches.