By BISHOP NASH The Herald-Dispatch
W.Va. — After 38 days, a statewide emergency declaration, and the start of one of the hottest Octobers on record, one of the region’s most brutal droughts ever is emphatically over.
More than 2 ¾ inches of rain fell in Huntington between Saturday and Monday afternoon, snapping a six-week dry spell stretching back to Aug. 28, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston. On Monday alone, 1.9 inches of rain fell on Huntington — a record for any Oct. 7 in the city.
The drought created one of the driest Septembers on record, with only 0.01 inches of precipitation falling during brief, spotty showers that month.
It also sparked the two single-hottest October days ever recorded in Huntington, NWS meteorologist Ray Young explained Monday. Both Oct. 1 and Oct. 3 saw afternoon high temperatures peak at 95 degrees — a new record for October in Huntington. …