The only summer it rained more than this one, a pair of hurricanes inundated southern New England in rapid succession and Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” topped the pop charts.
More than 20 inches of rain fell in Boston over the past three months, the second-highest total on record, the National Weather Service said Thursday. Only 1955, when two hurricanes hit the region a week apart in August, saw more rainfall, with nearly 25 inches. The weather service’s rainfall records date back to 1872.
The third-highest total came just two years ago, when the city received close to 20 inches of rain. Last year, less than 4.5 inches of rain fell, creating “critical drought” conditions across much of Massachusetts. It was the driest summer in Boston in 138 years.
“We seem to be having pendulum swings from very dry to very wet over the last several years,” said Bryce Williams, a meteorologist with the weather service.
Williams called the fluctuations “pure happenstance,” although climate change experts warn that extreme weather is becoming increasingly common. July was likely the planet’s warmest month on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“We can’t extrapolate at this time that it’s going to continue,” he said. “So it could be another really wet summer next summer, but it’s just too soon to know.”
This summer’s heavy rains led to flooding across New England and caused millions of dollars in damage in some areas, including Vermont and New Hampshire in July.
In Massachusetts, North Andover officials reported nearly $30 million in damages from a powerful August storm that battered the area with rain and multiple tornadoes.
Williams said weather patterns fluctuate between “troughs” and “ridges” that deliver either cool air from the north or warm air from the south, depending on the location of the jet stream. In a trough, the jet stream dips down into New England and the Northeast, bringing cooler and often wet weather, he said.
“We just had a high-pressure ridge set up over areas to the west of New England for much of the summer, and we were just in a continual pattern where we had that jet stream dipping down into the Northeast over and over,” Williams said.
The meteorological summer (June, July, and August) ends Thursday with mild temperatures and dry air that is expected to continue through Friday, according to the weather service.
Temperatures will reach the mid-80s over Labor Day weekend, with a return to summer heat and humidity expected by the middle of next week, forecasters said.
There was no rain in the immediate forecast.
Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com. Follow him @NickStoico.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25822586/STK169_ZUCKERBERG_MAGA_STKS491_CVIRGINIA_A.jpg "Meta is highlighting a splintering global approach to online speech")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25821992/videoframe_720397.png "Las Vegas police release ChatGPT logs from the suspect in the Cybertruck explosion")
