It’s not official. I’ll get those measurements from URI next month, but the rain gauge in the garden topped 5 inches for a period beginning last night ending this morning. And for the first time ever, water pooled in places on the floor in both the new and the old basements. 
The storm that produced this extraordinary amount of rain was itself exceptional. Thunder rolled continuously. Heat lightening — that which does not come with a bolt — flashed every few minutes. Rain obliterated the view from the porch. A friend who lives by the beach said they had a clap of thunder that she thought would break the house into match sticks. Another friend near URI and therefore the opposite direction from my fiend at the beach also reported on the loud claps — the loudest she could remember.
Kennel House was apparently not in the eye of the storm based on the thunder, but rain overflowed in the birdbath, a watering can and a plastic bucket with some treasures the grandchildren brought home from the beach that I have not yet — despite the passage of a year — added to the gravel beds under the eaves. Of course rain collected in the depressions in the rocks in the garden walls.
A female Northern cardinal who could not withstand the elements.
The violence of the rain storms this year is worrisome. And this one arrives just a day and a half after 2 days of nearly record-breaking heat.
It is vaguely satisfying to be able to switch off the irrigation system from time to time. I’m astounded to need a fleece to be comfortable sitting on the porch in July. I am worried about how rapidly and forcefully weather patterns are changing as the planet overheats.
Meadow Restoration 