Precipitation by month from 2000 - 2024

Despite Drought in Second Half, 2024 Was 8th Wettest Year in the Last 25 at IAH

2/2/25 – National Weather Service statistics show that despite drought in the second half, 2024 ranked as the 8th wettest year in the last 25 at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

8th Wettest Year in Last 25

Bush received 59.17 inches in 2024 compared to:

  • 71.19 in 2001 (the year of TS Allison)
  • 59.71 in 2002
  • 65.06 in 2004
  • 65.52 in 2007
  • 70.03 in 2015 (Major Storms included May 25-27 [11″ in 3 hrs] and October 31 [up to 12″ in 12 hours])
  • 60.96 in 2016 (the year of Tax Day and Memorial Day Floods
  • 79.69 in 2017 (the year of Harvey)

2017 was the highest year in 25. And 2011 was the lowest at 24.57 inches.

Abnormal Rainfall Distribution

In 2024, more than half of the normal rain for the year (52.1 inches) fell in just three months. They totaled 30.71 inches.

  • January had 8.77″ (more than double the mean of 3.94″ for the month)
  • May had 11.05″ (almost double the mean of 5.83″ for the month)
  • July had 10.89″ (more than double the mean of 4.45″ for the month)

Hurricane Beryl struck Houston on July 8 and dropped a normal month’s worth of rain in one day (4.72″). Beryl was the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record.

Graphics Tell the Story

The table below shows the official National Weather Service totals for each month since January 2000, plus the means, maximums and minimums.

In graphical form, here’s how 2024 compared to the high, low and normal years.

Note how slope of green line decreases after Beryl. That’s when drought struck SE Texas.

The distribution of heavy rainfalls throughout the year was unusual. January doesn’t normally have heavy rainfall. Neither does July. And while May ranks as one of our wetter months, last year we got almost twice the normal amount of rain in May.

At the other end of the spectrum, October usually ranks as our second wettest month.

But last October, it was our driest of the year by far…with less than a half inch of rain.

NWS provides a wealth of climate information for those willing to take the time to explore it. It doesn’t always fit popular narratives. If you want to teach critical thinking skills to your students, have them try to prove or disprove claims they see online by consulting data from trusted sources, such as NWS.

And make sure when they report their findings that they don’t just say “8th wettest year,” even though it may seem like that to them. Make sure they specify a date range, i.e., “2024 was 8th wettest year in last 25,” so no one assumes “ever.”

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/2/25

2714 Days since Hurricane Harvey