Over 100 Inches of Rain Have Soaked Parts of the South Since Spring 2015

Severe Weather

To say parts of the South are rain-fatigued since March 2015 is an understatement.

ByJon Erdman•June 3, 2016

Don't Underestimate The Power Of Water

Since spring 2015, parts of the South have picked up over 100 inches of rain during a 15-month siege of heavy rain events triggering major flash flooding and river flooding.

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(MORE: The Major Flash Floods Since March 2015)

Accumulated precipitation from March 1, 2015 through May 31, 2016 in the south-central U.S. The darker green contours highlight areas that have picked up at least 100 inches of precipitation during that time.
(ACIS/NOAA Regional Climate Centers)

Destructive flash flooding that hammered parts of central and southeast Texas before and after the Memorial Day weekend 2016 was just the latest event, washing out roads and bridges, thanks to up to 22 inches of rain in a swath from just southeast of Austin, Texas, to the far northern suburbs of Houston.

(MORE: Ft. Hood Soldiers Killed | Texas Flooding Photos)

According to NOAA's ACIS database, 50 weather observing stations in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle have picked up at least 100 inches of rain from March 1, 2015 through May 31, 2016.

Of those, two locations just east of Houston have picked up over 10 feet of rain in 15 months.

Liberty, Texas: 123.99 inches
Baytown, Texas: 122.79 inches

(MORE: Is Houston America's Flood Capital?)

Among some of the other cities that have passed the century mark of rainfall since March 2015 include:

Murfreesboro, Arkansas: 104.22 inches
Gainesville, Texas (cooperative observer): 103.68 inches
Mobile, Alabama: 103.48 inches
Atoka, Oklahoma: 103.20 inches
Baton Rouge (Sherwood cooperative observer): 102.44 inches
Mary Esther, Florida: 100.14 inches

But doesn't the Deep South and Gulf Coast typically see heavy rainfall?

Yes, but in some areas, this is record-shattering.

According to the ACIS database, this March 2015 - May 2016 period is the wettest 15-month period in records dating to 1903 in Liberty, Texas.

Over that time, the southeast Texas town measured over four feet more rain than average, a staggering surplus of 49.38 inches.

Graph of accumulated precipitation (green line) and average precipitation (brown line) from March 1, 2015 through May 31, 2016, in Liberty, Texas. The 15-month precipitation surplus in Liberty, Texas, by May 31, 2016, was 49.38 inches.
(ACIS/NOAA Regional Climate Centers)

To put this in more perspective, compare Liberty's almost 124-inch precipitation total to the 15-month March-May averages for a few U.S. locations. Yes, Liberty has picked up almost 2 feet more rain than Guam's average rain total in that period of time.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been an incurable weather geek since a tornado narrowly missed his childhood home in Wisconsin at age 7.

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MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Flooding in Texas May-June 2016

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State Highway 6 in Eastland County, Texas, was washed out by floodwaters on June 2, 2016, effectively shutting down the roadway. Engineers with the Texas Department of Transportation were dispatched to the area the following day to assess the damage.

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