October rainfall washes state with record levels

• By AMY WOLD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Nov 3, 2009 - Page: 1B

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Nine inches more rain than normal fell on Baton Rouge and most of the state last month at the same time the state’s average rainfall broke records dating back to 1895.

Average October rainfall in Baton Rouge is 3.81 inches, but last month the area received 12.83 inches, said Barry Keim, state climatologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southern Regional Climate Center.

The extra rain was spread out enough over the month that there weren’t any major problems with drainage, said Jim Ferguson, drainage engineer for the city-parish.

Problems arise when there are short, intense storms that create localized flooding, he said.

That wasn’t the case last month, he said.

Keim said although October is normally one of the drier months in the state, this past month was the wettest October on record.

Based on preliminary data, the average statewide rainfall last month was 13.1 inches, beating the record of 12.3 inches set in 1985 when Hurricane Juan made landfall in late October, Keim said.

In addition, last month tied for the fifth rainiest month on record since 1895; the most rain falling in May 1907 with 14.9 inches, he said.

Last month’s rainfall average tied with May 1953, he said.

The rainy weather didn’t seem to hit southeast Louisiana as much as northern or western parts of the state.

While there was 6 inches of rain measured at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Plain Dealing, in north Louisiana’s Bossier Parish, had 24.2 inches of rain recorded.

Many sites in the northern third of the state broke rainfall records for October, he said.

Although some people have speculated the extra rainfall could be an effect of the El Niño weather patterns, that’s debatable, he said.