Hurricanes, thunderstorms and global weather patterns are adding up to the second straight record-breaking year for rainfall in Pennsylvania.

And central Pennsylvania has willingly contributed to that achievement.

While closing in on September's rainfall record, the area has already absorbed more than 42 inches of rain this year, meteorology professor Paul Knight said.

"That's still pretty wet and we've got the better part of three months to go," he said.

So far, at least seven inches of rain has fallen in central Pennsylvania in each of the last three months, Knight said.

"That's unprecedented," he said.

But recent weather is not a cause for concern. Only three years ago Centre County was experiencing a drought, Knight said.

"What is for sure is that we as users of water ... that we're much more sensitive to these sorts of ups and downs," he said.

Those ups and downs can be explained by a global circulation pattern that varies from year to year, Matt Glazewski of the Campus Weather Service said.

Mountainous central Pennsylvania is especially vulnerable to hurricane weather when the tropical storms survive the trip up the East Coast, Glazewski said.

"We're seeing the maximum effects of the topography in a very adverse manner," he said. Heavy rains are funneled quickly into river basins, which can cause devastating flooding, he added.

An indication of this year's heavy rainfall was the presence of tornadoes in some parts of central Pennsylvania when the remnants of Hurricane Ivan drenched the area last week. The geography of the region was just right to spawn the twisters, he said. "When Ivan came through, we had a whole bunch of tornadoes in central Pennsylania," Glazewski said. "In 50 years they had not seen a tornado there."

So much recent precipitation has raised the area's water tables from a normal 100 feet below ground to about 35 feet, AccuWeather meteorologist Henry Margusity said.

Another heavy storm has the potential to result in more flooding, Margusity added.

This year's weather could also forewarn another high precipitation season. Central Pennsylvania could see a snowy winter, Margusity said.

"Right now, we're predicting a colder and snowier winter," he said.