Shorts

Deep End of the Pool

Wilmington has officially crowned 2018 as the wettest year on record. The year that held the previous record was 1877 when the rainfall amount was 83.65 inches. The National Weather Service’s Wilmington office reports as of 9 a.m. Saturday December 15 Wilmington measured 100 inches of rain for 2018. And with about two weeks left in the year it predicted the rain tally to grow higher.

“With rain models forecast every five days the wet pattern will continue with more chances through the end of the year ” Steve Pfaff National Weather Service meteorologist said during a December 17 interview.

The 1877 rainfall record was broken on September 16 when Hurricane Florence made landfall officiating the new record three whole months before the end of 2018. The top 17 wettest days last year added up to 58.96 inches of rain. That’s more rainfall than Wilmington gets in a typical year. More than one-fifth of the rain that fell on Wilmington in 2018 fell during the hurricane. That amount of rainfall in such a short amount of time only occurs about once in every 1 000 years.

The National Weather Service hosts a webpage on which people can see more rainfall statistics and track the amount of rainfall in our area in real time.

For the latest rain totals go to: https://www.weather.gov/ilm/Raceto100

Calling All Photographers

Wrightsville Beach Magazine’s Photo Contest submission deadline date has been extended but time is short to submit entries. Prize-winning entries in each category will be featured in the March issue as well as considered for the cover. The purpose of the contest is for readers to see our region through the community’s lens.

We are seeking your best photographs depicting the Cape Fear region in all its beauty. Each entry must be entirely original to the contest entrant and must be submitted in a digital format jpeg tiff or bmp. Amateur or professional categories are: Landscape Wildlife and People.

In addition to the deadline extension entering has been simplified via email. Each participant may submit up to three photographs for consideration. Read the rules at https://wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com/images/photo_contest_rules.pdf or request the rules by email by contacting contest@wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com

Photographs must have been taken between January 1 2018 and December 31 2018 and must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on January 11 2019.

Town Pride

Show some town pride with an official North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles State of North Carolina Wrightsville Beach license plate.

Customization choices include a First in Freedom or First in Flight background and four spaces for a personalized message. The suffix ‘WB’ will be the last two letters at the end of the plate. Regular plates with no customization are $20 and specialized plates are $50.

In order to have the plates printed by the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles Wrightsville Beach must submit a minimum of 300 payments for plates. The NCDMV will submit the request to the NC General Assembly for approval. If approved Wrightsville Beach will send the actual purchaser applications to the NCDMV. Finally they will send each purchaser his or her new Town of Wrightsville Beach license plate directly within 180 days. However if the application is not approved all fees paid will be refunded.

To purchase an official custom rear Wrightsville Beach license plate you must complete your application form and submit it with payment included by Feb. 1 2019. All applications can be submitted to PO Box 626 Wrightsville Beach NC 28480 or you may drop it off at the park office where you may choose to pay by credit card. Post-hurricane the park office is currently located behind Town Hall in the side room of the Fran Russ Recreation Center. Enter underneath the awning.