Record-Shattering October Rainfall for Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — It’s been a soggy October so far. In fact, this is the soggiest October ever in Salt Lake City and other cities across the state – and we have plenty more on the way! On average, Salt Lake City sees about 1.26 inches of rain, but as of Tuesday night has had a whopping 4.31 inches.

We know that the total will go up as we’ve already seen more rain on Wednesday with more in the forecast. This already puts us way above the all-time October record rainfall of 3.91 inches set back in 1981. 

We’ve gotten more rain in the first two weeks of October than all of meteorological Summer (June through August) where we totaled 1.1 inches over the three months. That means our 4.31 inches this month has nearly quadrupled the Summer total, and likely will by the close of the workweek. 

We are quickly approaching history books for not only being the wettest October on record, but one of the rainiest months ever, and we are only halfway through! The wettest months on record are generally reserved for the Spring months, October is the 8^th wettest month in Salt Lake City, so it’s notable when it breaks into the top 20 wettest months. As of Tuesday night, this is the 16^th wettest month of all time, but when rain totals come in it will climb the ranks further.

We also saw the 2^nd rainiest day EVER in Salt Lake this month. The first Saturday of the month brought a whopping 2.47 inches of rain to the Salt Lake International Airport. The all-time Salt Lake City record was 2.64 inches recorded 124 years ago in 1901! The rain gauge is located at the airport, however, in 1901 when the record was set airplanes hadn’t even been invented yet! That means the 4^th of October was the rainiest day the airport has ever seen!