Wichita Falls, TX – Even though final numbers for August were not tallied by Friday, the National Weather Service says last month will probably turn out to be the 10th wettest on record.
Early in the month, tropical storm Edouard hit the upper Texas coast and its remnants rolled across Central Texas.
But the main reason for the high totals was an unusually strong nontropical upper-level low-pressure area that dropped south from North Dakota and parked itself over Texas on Aug. 15 and remained for a week. All but Far West Texas got daily downpours.
Waco recorded its wettest August ever with 10.33 inches, 8.48 inches above it normal of 1.85 inches. On Aug. 18 and 19 Waco got 7.24 inches, the most ever in a 48-hour period.
Del Rio got 11.32 inches for the month, its second wettest on record, and McAllen had its third wettest August on record with 6.84 inches, 4.11 inches above its normal of 2.73 inches.
The top three wettest locations in the state were Baytown (13.30 inches), Orange (12.85 inches), and Tyler (11.53 inches).
That's quite a turnaround from the first half of 2008, when Texas experienced its 23rd driest first six months. The statewide average for January through June was 10.94 inches, 2.93 inches below the normal of 13.87.