Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown
Oak Ridge had more than 15 inches of rain in February, a record, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown.
The Oak Ridge Automated Surface Observing Systems recorded 15.62 inches of precipitation during February.
“Records for that site only go back to 1998,” the NWS said. “2019 is the wettest February on record.”
The monthly normal for Oak Ridge is 4.11 inches of rain, the National Weather Service said. The 15.62 inches of precipitation is 3.8 times the monthly normal of 4.11 inches.
The NWS said it was the wettest February on record for Knoxville (13.08 inches of precipitation) and the Tri-Cities in upper East Tennessee (10.47 inches), and the second-wettest for Chattanooga (11.31 inches).
The monthly normal for Knoxville is 3.81 inches. It’s 3.10 inches in the Tri-Cities and 4.31 in Chattanooga, the NWS said.
The record amount of rain caused widespread flooding and road closures across East Tennessee, forced some schools to close, and led to water rescues, flooded homes and businesses, and washed-out roads due to landslides and mudslides.
Looking at several months of data, it’s been the wettest winter in the Tri-Cities, with 20.01 inches, measuring precipitation totals from December through February, the National Weather Service said.
It’s been the third wettest winter in Knoxville, with 25.56 inches of precipitation, and in Chattanooga, with 27.31 inches.
The Automated Surface Observing Systems, or ASOS, systems serve as the nation’s primary surface weather observing network.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown
The chart above, which measured February rainfall through Feb. 25, 2019, shows the normal monthly precipitation amounts for cities such as Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown)
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