By Reid Forgrave
The Cincinnati Enquirer

If April showers bring May flowers, then thunderstorms in June make boaters fume.

Since Memorial Day weekend, the traditional beginning of boating season on the Ohio River, boaters in the Cincinnati area have seen gray skies, with more than 2½ inches of rain the first two weeks of June.

A Sunday afternoon of spotty sunshine brought out a few adventuresome souls on the muddy Ohio River. (Michael E. Keating photo)

"Everyone up and down the river is looking to get the water back down," said Randy Reichelderfer, owner of the California Yacht Club, a marina near Coney Island. "But right now you just have to wait Mother Nature out. It's frustrating, but the river people just learn how to deal with it."

The National Weather Service has measured 2.52 inches of rain in Greater Cincinnati so far in June, which is 0.7 inches above the normal rate this far into the month. And meteorologists predict at least a chance of rain every day this week through Thursday from a frontal boundary that's lingering over the Midwest.

"It's so moist and juicy outside, so humid, that any thunderstorm can bring a lot of rain," said Robin Gerhardt, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Wilmington. "But if we have a dry July, it'll balance itself out."

Columbus and Dayton have received more rain than Cincinnati so far, with Columbus at 3.89 inches and Dayton at 2.83 inches.

Total rainfall in 2004 for Cincinnati measured 22.64 inches through Sunday, 2.7 inches ahead of the normal yearly rate.

The Ohio River was at 31.4 feet Sunday and was expected to crest at about 33 feet later in the week, which is above the normal river stage of 25.4 feet but well below the flood stage of 52 feet.

Boaters avoid high water for safety reasons, since the current becomes faster and more debris enters the waterways.

"Last year was a terrible boating season with all the rains and all the debris," said Robin Malatesta, owner of Aurora Marina on the Ohio River. "We're just hoping this year will end up being a lot better."

The end of this week looks promising. Gerhardt of the National Weather Service predicts a cold front will move in Thursday, bringing less rain and high temperatures topping out at 80 degrees.

Marina owners say May and June tend to be iffy months for boating, anyway.

At the California Yacht Club, owner Reichelderfer says the persistent rain of the last two weeks has stopped boaters from going out on the river, but it hasn't stopped them from coming to the marina.

"They're just having a lot more deck parties," he said. "People still come out to their boat. Anything to get on the water."

---

E-mail rforgrave@enquirer.com