The rain which fell Wednesday into Thursday night was one of the most widespread and heavy rain events our region has seen in months. LCRA’s Hydromet and Doppler radar estimates showed much of the Hill Country received between 1 and 2 inches of rain while totals were generally between 2 and 3.5 inches across Central Texas. The middle Texas coast received anywhere between 1.5 and 6 inches of rain. LCRA’s highest gauged total was 6.94 inches at Glen Flora, in central Wharton County.
NWS Estimate of Rain Falling Between 9 am Wednesday and 9 am Friday:
December’s wet weather significantly changed the annual rainfall totals. What was shaping up to be a very dry year before December, ended up being a calendar year with near normal to just slightly below normal rain totals. Southern Travis County, eastern Hays County, Schleicher County and most of Wharton County showed rainfall amounts that were above normal. Meanwhile, rain totals were well below normal across Fayette and Williamson Counties along with much of the southern Hill Country.
2020 Annual Departure from Normal Precipitation (Data Courtesy National Weather Service)
In Austin, Camp Mabry’s total for 2020 was 35.08 inches, which was 0.76 inches above normal. 2020 ranks as the 54th wettest or 71st driest year on record. Austin-Bergstrom’s total for 2020 was 37.86 inches, which was 3.22 inches above normal. 2020 ranks as the 24th wettest year on record.
Finally, 2020 ended up being very warm year across Texas. For the Hill Country, Central Texas and the middle Texas coastal regions, readings generally averaged between 1 and 2.5 degrees above normal. 2020’s average temperature ranks among some of the warmest years in the record book.
At Austin-Camp Mabry, the average temperature for the year was 71.7 degrees, which was 2.3 degrees above normal. 2020 ranks as the 3rd warmest year on record, behind 2017 and 2011. At Austin-Bergstrom, the average temperature for the year was 69.6 degrees, which was 2.3 degrees above normal. 2020 tied with 2016, 2012, 2011 and 1951 for the 8th warmest year on record.
Bob
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