The heaviest rain with Fay has remained in South Alabama so far. But my curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to look at rainfall records for the Birmingham area. I was somewhat startled by the results.
If I asked you to guess the highest 24-hour rainfall total for the Birmingham area for August, based on observations at the Birmingham airport that go back to 1900, what would you say?
Well, I figured 5 to 7 inches would be a pretty good estimate. Wow, would I have been wrong. The highest 24-hour total in Birmingham for any August day since 1900 has been 4.15 inches on August 2, 1941.
And I found it even more interesting that by the time you get down to fourth place, you have dropped below 3 inches – just barely at 2.99 inches. I just would have thought that August rainfall totals would be a lot higher.
So if we do get some of the heavier rain during the next few days as Fay flails around the Southeast, we could easily get into the top 10 or even top 5 highest rainfall totals for August. But, you know how elusive records can be!
-Brian-
