Wettest 12 Months in U.S. History, Yet Again

https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Wettest-12-Months-US-History-Yet-Again

Bob Henson · July 9, 2019, 5:15 PM EDT

Topping a remarkable record that was set just a month earlier, the year-long period ending in June was the wettest 12-month span in U.S. records that go back to 1895. For the 48 contiguous U.S. states, precipitation averaged 37.86” over the period from July 2018 to June 2019. The previous record for any 12-month period was 37.68”, recorded from June 2018 to May 2019. No other year-long spans on record have averaged more than 37 inches for the entire nation.

What’s more, going back another month, the period from May 2018 to April 2019 recorded 36.20”, putting it in third place.

Another period of sustained wetness in 2015-16, including a peak in spring 2015, led to the fourth and fifth wettest year-long spans on record. Sixth place is now held by April 2015 – March 2016. Put another way, the six wettest spans among all of the 1494 overlapping year-long spans since January 1895—and seven of the eight wettest—have occurred in the last five years.

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As human-produced greenhouses warm our climate, they’re stoking evaporation from the ocean, helping to make the most intense rainfall events even heavier.

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tags: severe weather, extreme weather