Rain Not Taking Away Summer Fun

This year has been the wettest in the northeastern part of the state in more than a century. It's even worse than last year, when we had more rainy days in June than we'd ever had before.

News On 6 anchor Craig Day reports while there are many people who think our soggy summer season stinks, there are others who are taking it all in stride, even as we face some of the wettest weather in the entire country.

Michael Hammonds' few days of vacation got off to a soggy start, but even the threat of rain wasn't going to keep him from taking his 6-year-old son Caleb on his first camping trip.

"I think it kind of hurt the fishing a little bit, because we haven't caught anything last night or today," said Hammond.

They didn't catch fish, but by mid-morning, they did catch some sunshine.

While Hammond is wrapping up his stay at Oologah Lake, Kenneth and Jody Pittser are right in the middle of their camping trip with their family.

"We came down last Tuesday afternoon and I think it rained everyday but one I believe," said Kenneth Pittser. 

The Pittser's even had to take shelter one night, but the rain isn't ruining their fun.

"Soon as it quits raining, they are out that door," said Jody Pittser.

"Kids stay in the trailer while it is raining and as soon as it is out, it looks like a pack of dogs running loose," said Kenneth Pittser.

Just to give you an idea of how wet it's been in our area this year, we compared Tulsa's rainfall totals for the year to the three wettest cities in the entire United States.

Tulsa is at 34 inches of rain so far. Compare that to Mobile, Alabama, the wettest city in the U.S., which is at 31 inches. Pensacola is at 23 inches of rain and the third wettest city on average is New Orleans at 22 inches in 2008.

As for Hammond and his son, they hope the latest break in the weather is a sign of good things to come.

"We were thinking about going and doing a lot of other stuff outside and riding our bikes and everything.  Be nice if it wasn't raining," said Hammond.

It may be hard to embrace it, but there's a sunny side to the dismal weather.

Things could be worse.

The governor is seeking disaster assistance for nine Northwestern Oklahoma counties.

While we've received nearly 35 inches of rain, some parts of the panhandle have only had a little more than an inch all year long.