Wrangell man collects 35 years of rainfall data

As any resident of Southeast Alaska knows, rain is a common occurrence. This is no different for Wrangell. One Wrangell resident, Bill Messmer, has made a hobby out of tracking the amount of rainfall the island receives. He has now collected 35 years of data, showing trends and changes to rainfall Wrangell has seen.

"Originally I worked for the Forest Service, and there was people that lived in different parts of Wrangell, and we had rain gauges out and there was a variety of varying differences between where people lived in town," Messmer said. "Sometimes there was a substantial difference. So I decided, well, let's just start keeping track."

Messmer retired from the Forest Service about 14 years ago, he said, but he has kept up his tracking of rainfall as a hobby. The data he has gathered stretches from 1984 to 2019. Messmer said he had some older data, as well, but he lost those calendars he recorded the data on.

Over the past 35 years, according to Messmer's data, Wrangell has received a yearly average of 92.52 inches of rain. The most total rainfall Wrangell has seen occurred in 1987, with 134.17 inches of rain that year. The most rain falls in the months of September and October, with a low-point in May and June. There is only one month in Messmer's data showing no rainfall at all, March of 1986.

"Over the years I've probably had four or five different types of rain gauges," he said. "I've tried just the tube thing ... Then, when I've gone to more electronic ones I've kept the old one, compared them for the accuracy, you know to see how close they are. Right now I'm using an electronic one."

Messmer's data follows trends indicated on other weather tracking sites, as well. U.S. Climate Data, from 1981 to 2010, shows the same high and low points for rainfall as Messmer. Weather Atlas is another website that shows similar results. The Western Regional Climate Center shows several tables for rainfall in Wrangell: 1961-1990, 1971-2000, and 1981-2010. They all show similar high and low points for rainfall, and relatively close numbers for the amount of monthly precipitation.

Looking through his data, Messmer pointed out several things that stood out to him. For one thing, he said that Wrangell is receiving less rainfall these days. From 1984 to 1991, Wrangell almost always received over 100 inches of rainfall every year. The exception to this was in 1989, with a yearly total of 93.38 inches of rain. As the years have gone by, however, years of 100-plus inches of rain have become less common. Wrangell only received 66.57 inches of rain last year. The most recent year for over 100 inches of rain was 2015, with 109.24 inches.

Another trend that Messmer pointed out was how the seasons were slowly shifting over time. Snowfall and ice used to start showing up around October, he said, and would usually melt away in January. These days, however, he said the snowy season lasts generally from December to February.

"It's just been sort of fun to do that and compare," he said. "One of the reasons I brought it in is that nobody keeps track, and I consider it sort of a historical record."