[Editor's note: This column was turned in before it rained on Tuesday.]

I'm a little late posting after the Thanksgiving holiday, but how long since it last rained?  As of last Sunday, it’d been 11 days since it last rained. Those sorts of streaks don’t happen often.

Our last 11-day dry spell ended almost a year ago, Dec. 21, 2011. There was another in November 2011, and before that February 2011. The longest I’ve recorded is 18 days ending Sept. 12, 2010 but I’ve only been taking measurements since May of 2010.  As I write this, there's rain on the radar so I think this streak ends at 12.

My rain gauge in Lorton recorded the following precipitation at 6 a.m. on the day indicated for the previous 24 hours: