July 5, 2001 Scientists Study Why More Storms Form in the
Sandhills in Summer FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE When it rains it pours
* especially, it seems, in the Sandhills in summer. For years,
weather watchers have noticed that in the hot, muggy days of
June, July and August, storms often flare up or intensify over
the Sandhills region of North and South Carolina, dropping more
rain there than on surrounding areas. Scientists and students at
North Carolina State University and the North Carolina State
Climate Office are investigating this anomaly. They've analyzed
40 years of rainfall and climate data from the region, and are
creating computer models to help explain what fuels the storms.
"The ultimate goal is not only to better understand why this
phenomenon occurs, but to help meteorologists develop better
ways to forecast it," said State Climatologist Dr. Sethu Raman,
a professor of marine, earth and atmospheric sciences at NC
State, who is leading the study. Raman and his students have
found that the Sandhills r