ATLANTA — Atlanta is at the end of its wettest month in nearly 2 decades. And with three days left, it could round out as one of its top 10 all-time wettest months on record.
Through Sunday, July 28, the city picked up 12.70 inches of rain at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
July is Atlanta's typical wettest month of the year, with an average of 4.75 inches of rain based on 1991-2020 climate data -- but we haven't seen a month like this since July 2005.
It's been a month with not just high daily rain totals, but also an incredible total number of "wet" days in the city. It has rained 11 of the last 12 days. We've had 6 days this month with at least 1 inch rain totals!
The only Julys wetter than 2024 were in 1994, 2005, and 1887. All three of those months had landfalling tropical systems largely contribute to the rain totals. In 1994 it was Alberto. In 2005, we had the remnants of Cindy and Dennis. In 1887, there was a Category 2 landfalling system that again brought impressive rain totals to parts of the metro.
But 2024 has been an outlier. We have not had any landfalling tropical system to add to our rain amounts.
Why has it been so wet?
This month has featured a deep plume of tropical moisture, feeding high humidity into the north Georgia area. With several stalled frontal boundaries across the southeast, this has helped trigger the daily pattern of pop-up showers and thunderstorms.
The deep tropical moisture can produce heavier rain amounts, as the atmosphere is holding more moisture.
When will it be dry out?
Later this week, we may start to see a slightly hotter and drier pattern taking hold. Highs return into the 90s with daily rain chances dropping to 20 to 30 percent. It won't be dry everywhere, but fewer of us may see the rain each day.
