How does Alabama’s rainy spring compare to previous years
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Rainy and hot. Rainy and cool. Rainy and sunny.
It seems like we’ve seen it all through the first couple of months of spring in Alabama but the one constant has been rain. We’ve already seen some areas in central Alabama reach record rainfall totals earlier this month.
So just how historic has this season been across the state? Let’s dive into the numbers.
National Weather Service
Almost every city in the state has already recorded rainfall well above its average total for the month of May, according to the National Weather Service. Some of those cities include:
- Anniston: 9.43 inches (4.69 average)
- Birmingham: 11.15 inches (4.94 average)
- Huntsville: 10.88 inches (4.55 average)
- Mobile: 8.18 inches (4.58 average)
- Montgomery: 8.62 inches (3.98 average)
- Tuscaloosa: 14.26 inches (3.75 average)
Tuscaloosa’s total broke a 39-year-old record by more than two inches. But May has historically been a rainy month so many areas won’t reach their record rain total without any more heavy rain over the next couple of days.
Here are some previous records for the month of May:
- Birmingham: 17.22 in 2003
- Montgomery: 12.74 in 2017
- Gadsden: 11.11 in 2009
- Huntsville: 11.88 in 1983
- Clanton: 13.63 in 2018
- Mobile: 15.08 in 1980
- Dauphin Island: 15.87 in 1991
Rainy spring
But it wasn’t just May that brought an extensive amount of rain to the state. Over the last three months, several areas have doubled their average rainfall including:
- Tuscaloosa: 24.72 inches
- Mobile: 21.53 inches
- Birmingham: 20.48 inches
- Huntsville: 20.47 inches
- Anniston: 20.30 inches
- Muscle Shoals: 20.22 inches
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