Chattanooga area received much rain last week, but 5 inches still needed

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Jerry Harris looks out over his flooded driveway at Chattanooga Scrap Metal on E. 11th Street in downtown Chattanooga. Though last week's storms broke some daily rainfall records, the city overall is still below normal for precipitation.

The rains came down and the floods went up, but not enough to bring Chattanooga's rainfall back to normal levels.

Chattanooga was drenched by record-breaking rainfall last week, but the official rain deficit for the year is still 5.2 inches, Channel 3 Meteorologist Nick Austin said.

An unusual 2.6 inches of rain fell Thursday, the highest-ever rainfall recorded on July 12.

"The average rainfall for a mid-July day is 0.16," Austin said, "and Thursday they got 2.6 inches at the airport."

The city has seen 3.35 inches of rain this month -- 1.3 inches above the monthly average. Still, by Friday Chattanooga had only received 23.72 inches of rain this year, 5.2 inches lower than normal.

The constant rain should let up this week, with the return of more-typical summer weather, Austin predicted.

"At least through Tuesday, it will just be run-of-the-mill, scattered summer storms, the bulk in the afternoon and evening," he said. "Not like what we saw last week, when it just rained all day."

Robert Garcia, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Ga., said he expects similar weather in North Georgia.

"We're basically in a summery pattern where the afternoon peaks with showers and thunderstorms," he said. "We have temperatures floating around in the lower 90s for the highs and around 70 for the evening-time lows."

Summer storms can be unpredictable, so Garcia suggests residents check the sky before heading out.

"As of right now, just keep an eye on whatever your surroundings may be," he said. "That's the best advice I can give."