Austin's weather extremes: Record rain and snow
Editor's Note: The video above shows the latest from the KXAN First Warning Weather team.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — At KXAN, we're keeping track of Austin's weather extremes.
Have you ever wondered what Austin's longest period without rain is? What about the heaviest snow in recorded history? The answers are all below!
Click here to see Austin's heat and cold records.
We have created several interactive charts to help break down Austin’s weather records. Scroll down to explore all the data, or jump to a specific question using these links:
- What is the wettest day on record in Austin?
- What is the wettest hour on record in Austin?
- What is the wettest month on record in Austin?
- What is the wettest year on record in Austin?
- What is the driest year on record in Austin?
- What is the longest Austin has gone without measurable rain?
- What is the heaviest snowfall total on record in Austin?
What is the wettest day on record in Austin?
Sept. 9, 1921, stands as Austin's wettest day in recorded history, with a total of 15" of rain. April 23, 1915, is the only other day with at least 10" recorded.
What is the wettest hour on record in Austin?
Austin has seen some absolutely torrential storms over the years. Take May 17, 1999, for example, when 3.78" of rain fell in just one hour, between 8 and 9 p.m. That stands as the wettest hour in recorded history.
What is the wettest month on record in Austin?
Because it holds the wettest day record, September 1921 is unsurprisingly also the wettest month in recorded history. Austin received a total of 20.78" that month. Three other months have received more than 15" of rain: April 1915, May 2015 and December 1913.
What is the wettest year on record in Austin?
Since records began in the 1890s, Austin has seen eight years with more than 50" of rain. Leading the way is 1919, which saw more than 65" of rain in total. For context, the average year gets about 36".
What is the driest year on record in Austin?
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Austin has seen eight years with less than 20" of rain. The driest on record was 1954, when just 11.42" of rain was recorded, less than a third of what Austin gets in an average year.
A total of 15 months have received no rainfall whatsoever, most recently in November 2012. A further 16 months had just a trace of rain, meaning less than 0.01", most recently in July 2022.
What is the longest Austin has gone without measurable rain?
There have been three periods in history when Austin has gone more than 60 days without more than a trace of rainfall. The longest dry stretch lasted a total of 88 days, from Oct. 29, 1894, to Jan. 24, 1895.
What is the heaviest snowfall total on record in Austin?
Since records began in the 1890s, Austin has seen seven storms dump at least 5" of snow. The heaviest snow event was on Nov. 22-23, 1937, when the city officially received 11" of snow.
Jan, 30, 1949, holds the record as the snowiest calendar day in Austin history, at 6.5" in total.