5th rainiest July on record in Houston:
HOUSTON – Records in Houston, Texas go back to 1889. And whenever we get into a weather pattern that I feel is extreme I check the data to see how rare it is.
Rain this July has been consistent and intense. It started with Hurricane Beryl July 8th. But the rain never really stopped after the storm moved through.
From the middle to the end of the month we went 11 straight days of soaking showers with flooding. Officially, we’ll end the month of July in Houston at IAH with 10.89″. That puts us in 5th place for the all time wettest Julys on record. 2010, 1943, 1942 and 1900 were the only months with more rain than this July.
*A note about Beryl rain. The 4.72″ seems low when other cities in Harris County recorded 6-9 inches with some spots getting 10-15 inches. The National Weather Service acknowledges this. The power went out at IAH and wind could have also played a factor. But officially Beryl brought 4.72″ to Houston.
But wait there’s more!
It’s been a rainy year. It started in January when nearly 9″ of rain fell. May and June were also stormy months. When I added up the rain from the first seven months of the year in Houston I was amazed to find that 46.85″ of rain has fallen. We average 51.84″ for the entire year. We are in first place for the rainiest start to the year! Beating out, 2004, 1919, 1900 and 1946.
If you’re wondering, we’d need to get an additional 17.37″ from August through December to end up in the top ten wettest years on record.
A far cry from July 2022 and July 2023
Do you remember the past two summers? July 2022 and 2023 ranked as the hottest Julys on record! This July, so far, we are 1.6° below average placing us in 64th place with 135 years of records. Have you enjoyed the rain and the lower temperatures?
Or would you rather have the extreme heat?
A note on Houston records
This is from the National Weather Service.
The official observation site for the city of Houston was moved quite a few times during its long history. The city office was located in downtown Houston and observations began in July 1881. Regrettably, weather records prior to 1889 are not available. However, a relatively complete set of daily temperature and rainfall data is available dating back to 1892 with some temperature and rainfall records dating back to 1889. The city office remained in downtown Houston from 1881 through May 1969. Intercontinental Airport opened in June 1969 and the official observation site was moved to the airport upon its opening. The official observation site has been located at Intercontinental Airport ever since. Although the downtown office was the official observation site for almost eighty years, the office moved quite a few times around downtown Houston. Below is a list of locations and dates of the official observation site.
- 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)