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Hurricane season can provide quite the drenching from landfalling tropical systems. We have detailed the top five tropical storms in U.S. history below that were especially devastating in terms of their rainfall totals.
#5: Tropical Storm Imelda (2019)
One of the more recent storms that walloped the U.S. was not even a hurricane, which proved that even tropical storms are not to be trifled with. Imelda led to devastating rainfall in Jefferson County, Texas, during the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season.
This system was on the weaker side, packing estimated winds of 45 mph, but it was its speed that led to it dropping buckets of rainfall in the Lone Star State. In fact, over the course of just 12 hours Imelda produced over 30 inches of rainfall for cities such as Winnie and Beaumont, Texas. When Imelda finally dissipated, the total amount of rainfall recorded was 43.31 inches. Damages from the storm were nearly $5 billion with 7 fatalities.
#4: Tropical Storm Claudette (1979)
Like Imelda, Tropical Storm Claudette set the tone during the 1979 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Being only the third named storm of the season, Claudette formed during the peak of summer when conditions were ripe in the south in mid-July.
Surprise rainfall that totaled 42 inches in a single day was received in Alvin, Texas, which until 2018 was the highest single-day record rainfall in the U.S. By the time the system had dissipated over the Mississippi Valley, the highest rainfall received in the U.S. reached 45 inches. As a result, an estimated $400 million was done in damages with 2 people losing their lives.
#3: Hurricane Easy (1950)
The first hurricane to be listed is none other than Hurricane Easy of the 1950 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Unlike the first two, this system made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in Cedar Key, Fla., with winds of 120 mph on September 5, 1950. In fact, Easy made another landfall near Tampa after being driven into the Gulf of Mexico.
Three-day total rainfall was estimated to be 38.70 inches near Yankeetown, Fla., but before Easy dissipated additional rainfall was recorded across the Southeast and into the Mississippi Valley. This led to the system reaching 45.20 inches of total rainfall.
#2: Tropical Storm Amelia (1978)
The previous record holder for the wettest named storm on record was none other than Hurricane Amelia during the 1978 Atlantic Hurricane Season. This system brought massive rainfall that wouldn’t be imaginable until the 2000s.
Amelia was barely recognizable by the time it was named on July 30, 1978. Starting out as a tropical wave, this storm intensified the same day of its formation to tropical storm status with sustained winds of 50 mph while approaching the Texas Gulf Coast. It made landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas, on July 31 and tracked into San Antonio before its dissipation on August 2.
Two-day rainfall totals came to be 48 inches across southeastern Texas. This led to flash flooding and the deaths of 33 people in Texas with damages totaling $110 million.
#1: Hurricane Harvey (2017)
The wettest hurricane on record is none other than Hurricane Harvey. Harvey swept through the Gulf of Mexico during the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season after travelling across the Atlantic as a tropical wave. Harvey had dissipated once it entered the Caribbean Sea, but once the remnants emerged into the Gulf of Mexico, Harvey was resurrected on August 23, 2017.
Harvey would reorganize into a hurricane by August 24 and then into a major Category 4 hurricane by August 25. With peak estimated winds of 130 mph, the storm slammed into San Jose Island, Texas, and made a second landfall in Rockport, Texas, hours later. Harvey would become the first major hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. since the 2005 Hurricane Season when Hurricane Wilma struck the U.S.
Harvey dropped an earth-shattering 60.58 inches of rainfall in Jefferson County, Texas, making the storm the wettest tropical system to impact the U.S. This storm led to a massive bill of $125 billion in damages, with over 300,000 homes and buildings laid to waste in the wreckage. Texas was the hardest hit with over 100 people dying due to the storm.
It is important to keep in mind that this list is composed of storms that produced the most rainfall rather than the most damages.
Sources: National Hurricane Center (NHC), National Weather Service (NWS), Weather Prediction Center (WPC), NASA
Story Image: Hurricane Harvey moving over Aransas Bay at 04:25 UTC on August 26, 2017. At the time, Harvey was a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 115 kts (215 km/h, 130 mph). (NASA/Wikimedia Commons)