Louisville Had The 5th Wettest August Of All Time

August 2018 has come to an end, and total rainfall amounts for Standiford Field (SDF) added up to 7.23" for the month. This was enough to push the month to the 5th wettest all time! The total still fell 3.3" below the all-time wettest August from back in 1888. Before the 1.21" of rain that fell on August 31st, we were sitting at 12th wettest all time. So, the record daily rainfall from August 31st was good enough to move the city up 7 spots on the all time list in the "11th hour". It's also worth noting that the previous daily record rainfall for August 31st was the only day left for the month that had a record rainfall below 1". Now all days in August have a record daily rainfall over 1".

Below is a chart showing the top 10 wettest Augusts since 1872. 2018 was 5th all time for Louisville.

Below is a graph of some notable August rainfall totals. The red line is the driest all time August with only 0.15" back in 1881. The blue line is the wettest all time August with 10.53" back in 1888. The light green line is 2018, and the dark green line is normal rainfall.

You can always play the "what if?" game, but it is interesting to recall how close Louisville came to threatening the all time wettest August. Back on the evening of August 19th, a very heavy rain shower sat just east of Standiford field for nearly 2 hours and dumped around 4" of rain which caused some localized flash flooding. The airport did not receive any measurable rain, but if that shower had been a couple miles further west Louisville would have ended up higher on the list, possibly breaking the all-time record.