Fun facts about Tulsa rainfall:
- "average" is a loose term. In each decade we often have a year with less than 30" and a year with more than 50". The "average" is near 41"
(Hilo Hawaii is the highest City average, at 156", with the nearby Volcano National Park receiving 240"+. Albuquerque is the largest US metro to get less than 10" [9.4"]. Los Angeles is actually a desert, with only 12". Wichita gets 10" less than Tulsa, on average. Seattle only gets 36")
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762183.html- It rains, on average, 91 days a year in Tulsa (155 days a year in Seattle and Pittsburgh [who knew?], 223 in Juneau Alaska, and only 60 in Albuquerque)
- 2014 was drier than any of the "dust bowl" years, other than 1939
- the 1950s were the driest decade, with the msot years < 30" and three years below 25" (no other recorded decade has rainfall below 25")
- 2003 - 2009 were "wet" years, with the exception of 2005, which made the drought between 2010 - 2014 seem that much worse
- Flooding correlates most with brief periods of lots of rain, and not necessarily yearlong averages (might seem obvious when stated, but...)
https://www.cityoftulsa.org/city-services/flood-control/flooding-history.aspx- 1973 is the wettest year on record, with 69.88" of rain. 1915 is the only other recorded year over 60".
- Unofficial current rainfall for the year is 62.3"
historical data:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tsa/?n=climo_tulyearrainLooking at the data it is amazing how crazy out rain is. Look at one month for any given decade - you may have a run of 2, 3, and 4s, then a zero, then a 10. Annual totals are nearly as crazy - just as commo nto be down in the San Antonio range, or up in the Miami range. I know its cliche, but wow that's manic.