Why this Franklin County town gets so much rain
CONWAY, Mass. (WWLP) – The showers earlier this week gave one Franklin County town over two and a half inches of rain in a single day.
The heavy rain and high winds also took down trees and power lines in the area. Conway is no stranger to wet weather. 22News spoke with residents in the area to see how they deal with the threat of flash floods on a weekly basis.
Weeklong rain in western Mass. increases risk of basement flooding
Rain came to the Pioneer Valley in a big way this weekend, bringing consistent showers from the weekend through Tuesday. Conway saw particularly heavy rain, recording 2.54 inches in a single day. National Weather Service Meteorologist Francis Tarasiewicz described how this rain is well ahead of schedule.
'We've actually seen in the first week of May more rainfall at that site, at 5.18 inches, than we did for the entire month of April, 4.38 inches there,' Tarasiewicz said. 'And you know, around this time, the normal rainfall's 4.05 inches for the month of May, so we're running well above average.'
Conway's geography at the foot of the Berkshires allows condensed air to form into rain clouds, thus its wetter than wetter-than-normal climate. While the extra rainfall keeps Conway very green throughout the year, it also poses dangers, like taking down trees near major roadways.
The town of less than 2,000 people saw record rain in July of 2023, with over 21 inches during the month and 7.54 inches in one week. This led to massive floods and washed out roadways. Mike O'Connell is a 50-year resident of the town. He recounted how the people reacted during this time.
'There was a lot of roads washed out and had to find new routes around town,' O'Connell said. 'But everybody kind of got together and help themselves and helped each other, and made the town better.'
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WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
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