States' Wettest Septembers Identified Using NCEI Records
The lists use NCEI records to rank past September precipitation in the context of a strengthening El Niño that may raise the odds of future extremes.
Overview
- This week multiple local outlets republished Stacker’s rankings, which use National Centers for Environmental Information monthly data dating to 1895.
- The ranking method is simple: each state’s Septembers are ordered by total monthly precipitation and accompanied by that month’s statewide high, low and average temperatures.
- Notable state top records include Colorado’s September 2013 with 3.88 inches, Texas’s September 2018 with 6.71 inches, California’s September 1918 with 1.55 inches, and Oregon’s September 2013 with 4.23 inches.
- The stories present historical context rather than new scientific findings and appear alongside broader NCEI/NOAA reporting of unusually warm months and a strengthening El Niño.
- The dataset provides a consistent baseline for planners and residents to compare past extremes to current conditions and to monitor how a developing El Niño could change the odds of heavy September rainfall in the coming months.