Record Rainfall Soaks New York, Philadelphia Areas

Images (click to enlarge): 24-hour precipitation for New York City region ending at 8 am EDT August 14 and 15, 2011, from National Weather Service

Note: Posting and updating delayed by Comcast's second third multi-hour outage in 6 9 days.

August 20 Update: Central Park monthly rainfall updated to 2nd wettest August.

August 15, 5:30 PM Update: Moderate to heavy showers have added almost half an inch to the Central Park total so far this hour, pushing the monthly total to the 4th wettest August.

August 15, 1 PM Update: The Central Park total is the 5th highest in records which date back to 1869. Previous daily records at Central Park:

 8.28"  September 23rd, 1882

 7.57"  April 15th, 2007   

 7.40"  November 8th, 1977  

 7.33"  October 9th, 1903   

 5.60"  November 8th, 1972 

 5.54"  September 21st, 1966

 5.02"  September 16th, 1999

 4.98"  October 1st, 1913   

 4.86"  September 8th, 1934 

 4.80"  August 16th, 1909   

 4.64"  August 10th, 1990   

 4.35"  October 19th, 1996  

The 9.03" so far this month is already the 8th highest for August, just behind the 9.08" in 1942, and the month is only half over. The August record is 12.36" in 1990.

August 15, 12 PM Update: Updated record daily rainfall totals:

Kennedy Airpt NY 7.80" (all-time daily record)

LaGuardia NY     6.60" (second highest all-time daily amount, vs. 6.69", 4-15-2007)

Islip NY         5.32"

Central Park NY  5.81"

Newark NJ        6.40" (second highest all-time daily amount, vs. 6.73", 11-3-1977)

Trenton NJ       4.67"

Philadelphia PA  4.84"

Bridgeport CT    2.75"  

Original post:
Persistent heavy showers and thunderstorms have drenched the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut tri-state area with record rainfall amounts today. Numerous daily records have been set, and JFK Airport, with a 62-year climate history, has set an all-time daily record with 7.60" as of 5 pm. The old record was 6.27" on June 30, 1984, and the August 14 record was only 0.96" in 2008.

Records were also set in the Philadelphia area. Reports from the National Weather Service:

A RECORD RAINFALL AMOUNT OF 2.21 INCHES HAS FALLEN AS OF 5 PM AT  

BRIDGEPORT CT. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 1.79 INCHES SET IN 1999.



A RECORD RAINFALL AMOUNT OF 3.88 INCHES HAS FALLEN AS OF 5 PM AT  

ISLIP NY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 1.04 INCHES SET IN 1994. 



A RECORD RAINFALL AMOUNT OF 4.40 INCHES HAS FALLEN AS OF 5 PM AT  

NEWARK NJ. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 1.11 INCHES SET IN 1999. 



4.39 INCHES OF RAIN FELL AT TRENTON, NEW JERSEY SO FAR TODAY, AUGUST  

14, 2011. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 3.4 INCHES SET IN 1999. 



4.84 INCHES OF RAIN FELL AT PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA SO FAR TODAY,  

AUGUST 14, 2011. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 1.77 INCHES SET IN  

1977.