Texas Had Record Rainfall This Fall Even Without Hurricanes

SAN ANGELO, TX -- Meteorologist George Bomar says the state of Texas experienced record rainfall in the fall months of 2018 without tropical disturbances.  

Bomar oversees the Weather Modification Program for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and says San Angelo had 18.06 inches of precipitation which makes it the second most ever in autumn.  

According to Bomar, Texas captured more rainfall in the fall season than in recorded weather history which dates back to 1895 and tropical weather disturbances had nothing to do with it.

A total of 15.27 inches, averaged statewide, was more than double the normal for the season that runs from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30.

Bomar says Abilene caught 18.12 inches of rain during the season, or three quarters of the rain that occurs in a typical autumn in the Big Country.  And Del Rio recorded 16.54 inches which was also the second wettest fall on record.

Dallas-Fort Worth (29.21) and San Antonio (25.11) received even more, setting new autumn records for those metropolitan areas.  Not to be outdone, Galveston (36.74) and Port Arthur (32.73) measured still more, establishing a new ceiling for autumn rain in the upper coastal region.  East Texas kept pace, with Lufkin (29.08), College Station (23.94), and Tyler (22.21) recording more rain than ever before in the fall.

With 85 inches of rain already counted, the Beaumont-Port Arthur area is virtually assured of a second-place finish—behind the 104 inches measured only a year ago, due in large part to Hurricane Harvey.

More precipitation records are threatened, as winter settles in with a likely prospect of continued bountiful rain—and at least several episodes of truly wintry weather. 

Already, a near-record snowfall smothered the South Plains over the first weekend in December: Lubbock’s total accumulation of 10.0 inches is within about an inch of the city’s greatest total snowfall on record for the month of December.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation’s weather modification program issues licenses and permits for weather modification projects, almost all of which have been in operation for 20 years or longer.

The licenses attest to the credentials and experience of the meteorologists who direct the seeding operations, while the permits pertain to specific regions where seeding is intended and where aircraft may operate.

A licensee may conduct more than one project, each of which requires that a specific permit be issued before seeding can begin.

According to the TDLR website, all individuals or organizations intending to conduct weather modification activities in Texas are required to obtain a weather modification license and permit from the TDLR.