When will Northeast Ohio’s near-record dry spell end? - Hint: enjoy Saturday

Ohio has officially entered a drought, with 62% of the state in areas experiencing a moderate drought.

Ohio in early June officially entered a drought, with 62% of the state in areas experiencing a moderate drought, according to the latest update.U.S. Drought Monitor

CLEVELAND, Ohio - It last rained in Cleveland on May 20. That’s three weeks ago.

But if the forecast is accurate, that dryspell streak will come to an end on Sunday.

The National Weather Service is calling for a 50% chance of rain Sunday, though in small amounts, and a 90% chance Sunday night.

Should the forecast hold true, Cleveland’s stretch of days without rain will end at 21 days, the second-longest streak on record for May or June since weather service recordkeeping was moved from downtown to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in 1938.

The only longer streak came in 1977, when Cleveland went 25 days without rain, ending on May 30 that year.

In digging through the daily weather records over the years, cleveland.com found that this was only the eighth time out of the 86 years in which Cleveland has gone without rain in May or June for at least two weeks in a row. Here are the previous streaks.

  • 2012, 15 days, ending June 16.
  • 1991, 15 days, ending June 30.
  • 1977, 25 days, ending May 30.
  • 1963, 15 days, ending June 28.
  • 1962, 14 days, ending May 22.
  • 1954, 16 days, ending May 27.
  • 1949, 14 days, ending June 11.

Database: Find Cleveland weather details for any date since 1871. Search by holidays, sporting events and specific days.

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