ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – 2021 had no shortage of memorable weather moments. KTAB/KRBC Meteorologist, Kayleigh Thomas, breaks down the top five weather events seen across the Big Country in the past year.
Coming in at number five, was the stormy end we saw in September.
By “the end of September,” we mean the end of September. By far the most “active” day of weather that month was September 30.
Severe storms marched through the Big Country, causing quite the mess in some places. These storms were strong enough to support half dollar sized, or 1.25-inches, hail in Sweetwater. This system also had strong and gusty winds that knocked over a semi-trailer truck on Interstate-20.
Lastly, widespread flash flooding was seen, prompting multiple water rescues.
What is flash flooding, and why does it happen?
The two key elements are rainfall intensity and duration. These storms were putting down a lot of rain and on top of that, they were back-building. This meant that even as the storm system moved forward, it continued to grow behind it, which led to longer durations of time that areas saw consistent rain.
The ground couldn’t acclimate to it, so the water had nowhere to go.
When looking at average expected rainfall on September 28, Abilene Regional Airport was 0.81-inch above our average rainfall for the year.
By comparison, on October 1 Abilene was 2.83-inches above average for the year, thus far.
After measuring almost no rainfall the entire month of September, the storms on the 30th helped cover some ground on needed precipitation.
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View all of Kayleigh’s Top 5 Abilene Weather Events of 2021:
Along with the rain, September also brought some heat. KTAB/KRBC Meteorologist, Kayleigh Thomas will take a look at how long that heat stuck around, when the next segment of the countdown of the Top 5 Abilene Weather Events of 2021 continues.
