November 2004 has now taken its place in the record books as the wettest November in Texas since comprehensive record keeping began in 1895. However, the actual statewide average precipitation for Texas in December 2004 was only 0.79 inch. This oddly enough, was the 13th driest December in 110 years of record keeping.
Texas (and especially the high plains region of West Texas) is known for its year-to-year and month-to-month climate variability. This fact is most evident in the precipitation data sets. This year, the variability from wet November to dry December was rather marked to say the least. According to data from the NOAA National Weather Service Southern Region Climate Center in Baton Rouge, La., November averaged 6.08 inches of precipitation across the state (previous record - 5.71 inches in 1902). The 2004 total statewide average precipitation for TX was 40.06 inches, or the 3rd wettest ever. 2004 Will go down as the wettest year in 63 years, or since 1941. The below table lists the top 5 wettest years for Texas.
| Year | Precipitation (inches) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1919 | 41.93 |
| 2nd | 1941 | 40.94 |
| 3rd | 2004 | 40.06 |
| 4th | 1900 | 38.56 |
| 5th | 1991 | 37.88 |
Major cities throughout the state also accumulated record November rainfall totals that ranged from three and a half to nearly ten times the norm (based on 30 year rainfall averages). Nearly six times the normal precipitation of 0.68 inch was measured at NWS Amarillo. According to data compiled by NWS Southern Region Weather Forecast Offices, the following Texas cities set new records for the month of November:
Austin - 14.10"
(previous record: 10 inches in 2001) or 526% of the norm
San Antonio - 9.46" (previous record: 9.16" in 1874) or 366%
of the norm
Lubbock - 6.65"(previous record: 3.45" in 2001) or 937% of the
norm
Midland - 5.42" (previous record 2.32' in 1968) or 834% of the norm
Lufkin - 17.11" (previous record 15.97" in 2000) or 377% of
the norm
Victoria - 16.14" (previous record 10.11" in 1998) or 611% of
the norm
Childress - 6.73" (previous 4.29" in 1992) or 635% of the norm
Del Rio - 4.71" (previous record 4.54" in 1913) or 490% of the
norm
Residents of Houston, Amarillo, San Angelo and Abilene, experienced their 2nd wettest November on record. Waco and El Paso had the 3rd wettest. At NWS Amarillo, 4.06 inches of precipitation fell during the month, with 13.80 inches of snowfall. This resulted in the snowiest November on record in Amarillo. The 8.40 inches that fell on November 2nd (Election Day) is the most snowfall so early in the season. It is a meteorological coincidence that the 8.90 inches of snow which fell on November 7th 2000, occurred on Election Day.
As unusual as November 2004 has been, it was actually the second month of the year to be the wettest. June 2004 was also the wettest month on record in the state of Texas.
