Is all this rain normal? (Dallas, McKinney: 2015, tornado, live)

[the_potion_darling]

I've been here just about a year and half, and I seem to hear from a lot of locals they've never seen weather "this bad" before, be it the massive temperature swings of spring, the heat stretch we had this summer, or the rain of yesterday and today. McKinney got nine inches in less than 24 hours, which is insane to me!



So my question is, did I just happen to move here at such a time as to witness these never before seen weather phenoms? (What a time to be alive, right?) Or is it perhaps a faulty memory of those I've talked to?

[Katana49]

No.


Texas is known for heavy rainfall in a short amount of time. We don't get that many days of rain per year, but when we do, it's customary for flash flooding to occur. This amount of rainfall is a bit on the high side, but not really abnormal. Same goes for the heat stretch this summer, we've had much worse than this summer, periods of 30+ 100 degree days.

[wxf848]

This is pretty normal. This year it was hot early in the summer, and sometimes it's hotter later in the summer. Overall the heat wasn't that bad this year. The springtime swings in temperature sometimes happen, and sometimes don't. The same can be true this time of year.

The rain in this area usually not consistent. Sometimes we get occasional moderate rain, and sometimes we get frequent light and moderate rain, but usually we have either too little or too much. Over longer periods of time, we tend to have droughts, some years long, broken by floods, or periods of moderate rainfall interspersed with floods, which is where we are now.

Our normal weather includes a lot of variation. A painfully dry spring is normal, and a painfully flooded spring with many severe storms is normal. A pleasant winter is normal, and winter with multiple dreadfully cold spells (by our standards) is normal. What you can count on is that much of summer will be hot, sometimes very hot, and some to much of winter will be pleasant, and some to much of it will be cold. Which is "some" and which is "much" depends on the year. Because of this variation, most years at least some part of the year will have weather that people say they've never seen "this bad" before, but it just feels that way. If they've been here for a while, they've seen a lot worse. The climate here is not suited for those who like consistently pleasant weather.

[jbb303]

The stretch of rain we've had this month reminds me a lot of the spring rains and flooding from 2015. That year many of the local lakes either crested their spillways or had to have flood gates opened. This stretch is similar in the consistency and amount of rain but it seems to have resulted in more localized flash flooding than the widespread flooding of the lakes.

[NAvery815]

The rain of the last 24.hours is the most rain in 24 hours since 1933. And 1922 before that. If it helps put it in context. It is normal to get some torrential rains, but last night was far in excessive of those normal downpours.

[Johnhw2]

You have been here one year? The last year had a cId ooler than normal spring, a hotter than normal summer and a dry as usual summer. But the rain the last couple of days is a record for one storm. We have had a couple of other major rain events. So Id say fewer wet days than normal but huge rain events so we are ahead of normal rainfall and set an all time record for this month before its over.


I do not recall a major hail event or tornado's this past year so maybe slightly lower than normal on that front.


Our weather varies a lot..... this year is typical in that sense

[the_potion_darling]

@Johnhw2 Correct. Spring 2017 was pleasant, and Spring 2018 was bitterly cold with a few 70-85 degree days.
Long timer's always say, "This isn't normal" but in the year and a half I have been here, the weather has been so wildly unpredictable, this can't possibly be abnormal.



My area of town has had several hail storms in 2018, and a near miss on a tornado. There was a tornado in Canton last spring, too.



You are right though, it varies a lot. Without a large body of water to help regulate temperatures, you never know what you'll get.

[Jeohnny]

Originally Posted by the_potion_darling

@Johnhw2 Correct. Spring 2017 was pleasant, and Spring 2018 was bitterly cold with a few 70-85 degree days.
Long timer's always say, "This isn't normal" but in the year and a half I have been here, the weather has been so wildly unpredictable, this can't possibly be abnormal.



My area of town has had several hail storms in 2018, and a near miss on a tornado. There was a tornado in Canton last spring, too.



You are right though, it varies a lot. Without a large body of water to help regulate temperatures, you never know what you'll get.

Dallas is literally in a location where it can get any type of weather event. Anything is possible here

[Willamette City]

Oregon would love some of your rain. We were supposed to get some today. Turned out to be about 1/100th inch. Made the road a little wet, but not too much.

[elan]

"Is all this rain normal? " It happens every once in awhile.