☔Record rain in Houston 🌧️

Houston’s 5th wettest July on record:

HOUSTON – Records in Houston, Texas, go back to 1889. And whenever we have a weather situation that I consider extreme, I check the data to see how rare it is.

The rains were steady and intense in July, starting with Hurricane Beryl on July 8. But the rain never really stopped after the storm passed.

From mid to late in the month, we had 11 consecutive days of torrential rain and flooding. Officially, we will end July in Houston with 10.89 inches of rain. That puts us in 5th place for the wettest Julys ever. 2010, 1943, 1942, and 1900 were the only months with more rain than this July.

*A note on Beryl’s rain. The 4.72 inches seems low as other Harris County cities recorded 6-9 inches, with a few locations receiving 10-15 inches. The National Weather Service acknowledges this. Power was out at IAH and wind may have played a role as well. But officially, Beryl brought 4.72 inches to Houston.

But wait, there’s more!

It was a rainy year. It started in January with about 9 inches of rain. May and June were also stormy months. When I added up the precipitation for the first seven months of the year in Houston, I was surprised to see that there was 47 inches of rain. The average for the entire year is 51 inches. We are in first place for the wettest start to a year! Beating out 2004, 1919, 1900 and 1946.

If you’re wondering, we’d need an additional 17.37 inches from August to December to crack the top ten wettest years on record.

Far from July 2022 and July 2023

Remember the past two summers? July 2022 and 2023 were ranked as the hottest Julys on record! This July, so far, we are 1.6° below average, which puts us in 64th place with 135 years of records. Did you enjoy the rain and lower temperatures?

Or would you prefer to have extreme heat?

A Note on Houston Records

This is from the National Weather Service.

The official observing site for the City of Houston has been moved several times over its long history. The city office was located in downtown Houston, and observations began in July 1881. Unfortunately, weather records prior to 1889 are not available. However, a relatively complete set of daily temperature and precipitation data is available since 1892, with some temperature and precipitation records dating back to 1889. The city office remained in downtown Houston from 1881 until May 1969. The Intercontinental Airport opened in June 1969, and the official observing site was moved to the airport upon its opening. The official observing site has been located at the Intercontinental Airport ever since. Although the downtown office was the official observing site for nearly eighty years, the office has moved several times within downtown Houston. Below is a list of official observation site locations and dates.

• Cotton Station (July 1881 – September 1909)

• Stewart Building at Preston and Fannin (September 1909 – February 1926)

• Shell Building at Texas and Fannin (March 1926 – August 1938)

• Federal Building at Franklin and Fannin (August 1938 – May 1969)

• Intercontinental Airport (June 1969 – present)