Is 2022 a wetter and colder year than normal for Atlanta? (Mableton: 2015, apartment)

[Prickly Pear]

I mean the title kinda states the question itself. As yall know I'm new to the area and didn't expect it to get to freezing temperatures here in mid-October. My coworker who is originally from Augusta said August was an abnormally rainy month too.


I know with climate change and all weather is changing at a larger exponential rate than previously in history with some places getting hotter, some colder, some wetter some drier... is this true for our local area?

[DJDeadParrot]

August was pretty rainy. But, September was also quite dry, and that has carried over into October so far. Statistically, we're behind on rainfall for the year-to-date, but not by a large amount.

https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=ffc

[bryantm3]

It's about 1-2 weeks ahead of schedule. I remember a lot of cold Halloween nights, but I remember warm ones, too. August was incredibly rainy, it is usually a dry month. The weather here is certainly different than it was when I was a kid. It used to be drier, but the average rainfall per year has gone up 2 inches in the last 10 years. That seems like a big move to me.

We also used to have these fronts during the spring and summer, shaped like a "/" going across the south and moving east. Always would hit in the evening, we'd get severe thunderstorms, hail, tornado warnings, but our damage was always less severe than Alabama and Mississippi, I guess due to the time of day they would hit, and the fact that we have the foothills of the Appalachians just west of the metro.

But these past few years have been different. We get these pop-up storms a lot more now, during the spring and summer, just torrential rain and tons of clouds. It is so humid- windy too. Almost like Florida weather.

During the winters recently we've had a lot more "silent hill" like weather too— dense, eerie fog. It also seems to snow less.

I would love to hear what all surprises you about the weather & environment here? Coming from Arizona, I know that has to be an incredible change.

[ShenardL]

A warmer and drier winter is expected: https://www.ajc.com/news/warmer-drie...MSJSRSN4KH3EI/

[Columbus1984]

Definitely has been colder the last few years. Rain has been good up until September.

[Datdudebrah]

Halloween has been colder than Thanksgiving and Christmas pretty much the majority of the time I've been here. May have more to do with me clinging on to summer clothes in October than the actual temperature though.

[Mattie]

It does feel as though fall was over quickly. No Indian summer temperatures, it went from hot to frosty this year. But, I have been out on Halloween night wearing a down coat in the past, and at times wearing no coat at all. I'm hoping for a warm up in the coming weeks.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

I mean the title kinda states the question itself. As yall know I'm new to the area and didn't expect it to get to freezing temperatures here in mid-October. My coworker who is originally from Augusta said August was an abnormally rainy month too.


I know with climate change and all weather is changing at a larger exponential rate than previously in history with some places getting hotter, some colder, some wetter some drier... is this true for our local area?

Lol, for someone like you who is coming from an extremely dry climate in Phoenix (which only receives like 7-8 inches of precipitation on average for the entire year), you likely are going to be in for a real treat if you live in the Atlanta area for long enough.

Atlanta averages about 50 inches of precipitation yearly, which is about 7 times the amount of yearly precipitation that a city/metro like Phoenix receives on average.

Of course August 2022 was relatively more rainy than normal, with almost 7 inches of rain falling in a month that only averages about just over 4 inches of rain. But the nearly 7 inches of rain that fell in August 2022 seems to pale in comparison to other rainy months in fairly recent Atlanta history, including:

> September 2004, when 13.65 inches of rain fell, largely as a result of the remnants of Hurricane Frances

> July 2005 (when 14.63 inches of rain fell)

> December 2015 (when 12.51 inches of precipitation fell in a year when more 68 inches of total precipitation fell)

> December 2018 (when 11.83 inches of precipitation fell in a year when more than 70 inches of total precipitation fell)

> February 2020 (when 10.58 inches of precipitation fell in a year when more than 66 inches of total precipitation fell).

The months of June 2013 (9.57 inches of rain) and July 2013 (8.48 inches of rain) also standout as particularly rainy summer months during a year when 66 inches of total precipitation fell.

September 2009 (8.94 inches of rain) also really stands out in recent memory because of the misleading rain total in a month when some parts of the Atlanta region (particularly the West metro Atlanta suburbs) received upwards of 30+ INCHES of rain during the Great Atlanta Flood of 2009.

During about an 8-day stretch in mid-late September 2009, more rain fell than than most rain gages may have been equipped to handle, particularly on Monday, September 21st, 2009 when some suburban West metro Atlanta rain gages appeared to max-out after receiving about 20 inches of rain in less than 3 hours.

The September 2009 rain event stands out to me personally because I was flooded out of my ground-level apartment in Doraville and I had friends and family that were directly affected by the flooding in South Cobb and Douglas counties in West metro Atlanta.

Officially, 69.43 inches of total precipitation fell for the year in 2009, but because many rain gages maxed out at about 21 inches of rain in 3 hours during the very early morning hours of September 21st, 2009, some areas of metro Atlanta might have received upwards of 80+ inches of precipitation for the year in 2009.

Catastrophic flooding impacted the Atlanta metropolitan area September 15-22, 2009, as a result of multiple days of prolonged rainfall. A combination of ample moisture from both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico and topography enhancement produced heavy rains that fell faster than local watersheds could handle. At the height of the event, September 20-21, an estimated 10 to 20 inches of rain occurred in less than 24 hours. Historic flash flooding resulted, with flooded river basins remaining swollen for weeks. Numerous flood records were set, with some locations observing conditions exceeding the 0.2% chance of occurrence in a given year.

The maximum 24-hour rainfall total for September 20-21, 2009, was 21.03 inches, observed at the Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority. The chance of any location in the Atlanta area receiving this amount of rainfall in any given 24-hour period is less than 0.01% annually.

Catastrophic Atlanta Flood of 2009: Atlanta Floods 10th Anniversary September 15-22, 2009 (National Weather Service)

Many of the same West metro Atlanta suburbs (particularly in the Austell and Mableton areas in South Cobb County) had also been adversely affected by the aforementioned abnormally heavy rains in September 2004 that were a result of the direct remnants of Hurricane Frances during a very active 2004 hurricane season.

Atlanta’s relatively close location to major bodies of water like the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean as well as to a notable land feature like the Appalachian Mountains often can result in direct affects on local weather conditions, including some prolonged periods of noticeably high amounts of moisture and precipitation.

And while the Gulf of Mexico often generates warmer and moister (and sometimes noticeably wetter) weather conditions for the Atlanta area, Atlanta’s inland location relative to the Appalachian Mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes in Eastern North America can also sometimes occasionally result in cooler than normal temperatures, particularly during the months of October through April.

And even though they are roughly about 650 miles away from the Atlanta area as the crow flies, the Great Lakes can often affect local weather conditions during the aforementioned cooler weather months (October-April) because of how those inland bodies of water seem to affect the positioning of the Jet Stream resulting in the relatively somewhat frequent descension of cooler and colder polar-based weather systems into the Southeastern North American continent from Canada and the Arctic Circle.

The geographical presence of the Great Lakes in Eastern North America and its effect on the Jet Stream can generate strong cold fronts that can sometimes bring noticeably cooler and colder temperatures as far south as the Gulf Coast, particularly during the aforementioned cooler weather months.

Atlanta’s elevation of 1,000+ feet above sea level in a location near the Appalachian Mountains can at times both help to either block or facilitate the descension of cooler/colder temperatures and weather conditions into the area from the north.

(Sometimes the Appalachian Mountains can help to block or deflect cold weather systems from directly affecting the area.)

And occasionally, the Atlanta area can be affected by a wedge or a marine layer of cooler, cloudy, sometimes foggy/drizzly weather that comes down the Atlantic Coast/Eastern Seaboard from the northeast out of the North Atlantic Ocean along the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

I mean the title kinda states the question itself. As yall know I'm new to the area and didn't expect it to get to freezing temperatures here in mid-October. My coworker who is originally from Augusta said August was an abnormally rainy month too.


I know with climate change and all weather is changing at a larger exponential rate than previously in history with some places getting hotter, some colder, some wetter some drier... is this true for our local area?

Awkward answer... yes and no.

Our low temperature has been below average for about the last month, but it was above average for the 2 months prior.

Where it gets interesting is our high temperature has been above average for the last month, so it's been colder at night and warmer in day.

Now if you limit things to the last 2 days, that is outside the 90th percentile colder for this day of the year. If it's short lived, its mostly normal. We still get the cold fronts that push in out making very brief extremes. That's normal maybe a dozen times throughout the year.

Mid September we had 2 or 3 days was abnormally warm in about the same direction.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by ShenardL

A warmer and drier winter is expected: https://www.ajc.com/news/warmer-drie...MSJSRSN4KH3EI/

It’s interesting how some news outlets, like the AJC, are forecasting a warmer and drier winter, while a publication like the Farmers’ Almanac seems to be predicting cooler and wetter weather conditions for the Southeast and South Central states, particularly during the month of January 2023.

Though, many of the same sources predicting a cooler/colder/wetter-than-normal January 2023 have seemed to predict warmer winter weather conditions during the month of February.

Farmers’ Almanac Releases An Extreme Winter Forecast For 2022-23:
Farmers' Almanac releases its extended winter weather forecast. Get ready to shake, shiver, and shovel! (Farmers’ Almanac)

2022-23 Extended Winter Weather Forecast (Farmers’ Almanac)