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Record tally of rainy days, wet forecasts impact Indy businesses

Seasonal businesses struggle amid repeated rain forecasts

News 8's Sierra Hignite reports.

GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) – For businesses that rely on good weather to make money, all the rain has made that difficult. 

But, they say, they are looking forward to the spring showers moving out and the summer sun sticking around. 

According to the National Weather Service, 46 percent of the days so far have had a measurable amount of precipitation. That’s the second-highest percentage at this point in a year since 1890.

In June alone, 16 of 25 days have seen rain. That is causing some issues for seasonal businesses.

“We missed the majority of those storms that went through, but still didn’t have the number of players that we normally have because of the forecast,” said Chip Essig, the director of golf at Hickory Stick Golf Club.

For Hickory Stick Golf Club and outdoor facilities like it, even the chance of rain can keep customers away.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to rain to hurt us. It is the forecast of rain that hurts us,” Essig said.

Hickory Stick always accounts for some rainouts, but the rain sometimes can affect them days later.

“The golf course just gets so saturated that we have to have the carts on the cart path,” Essig said.

During rainy stretches, “the maintenance crew may go home early, you know. We may have half the crew in the golf that we normally have,” Essig said.

Freedom Springs Aquatics Park in Greenwood can see thousands of customers a day. A rainout can have a big impact on revenue.

“For a day like this, we could easily bathe a load of 1,500 to 1,800 for a day. So, this is pretty typical for a day like this and the weather that we are having,” said Rob Taggart with Freedom Springs.

“We try to scale our operations up or down depending on the weather,” Taggart said.

Waiting out the rain has been difficult for some businesses, but the customers come running to make up for lost time when the sun finally comes out.

Essig at Hickory Stick said, “The days where they don’t forecast rain, we have been as busy as we can be. I mean very good. It makes up for some of the rain days.”