Recent rains set yearly record for IAH measuring site

Floodwaters from the Addicks Reservoir inundate a neighborhood off N. Eldridge Parkway in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Harvey on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, in Houston. Floodwaters from the Addicks Reservoir inundate a neighborhood off N. Eldridge Parkway in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Harvey on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, in Houston. Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 191 Caption Close Recent rains set yearly record for IAH measuring site 1 / 191 Back to Gallery

With the rains came the worry. Just weeks after Hurricane Harvey thrashed the Houston area, a new round of rain Monday snarled traffic, sparked concerns and set off flash flood warnings.

By the time the downpour dissipated around 9 p.m, the Houston area saw a new rainfall record for the year - sort of.

The 0.42 inches that pelted George Bush Intercontinental Airport topped the site's previous record, set in 2001 after Tropical Storm Allison devastated the region.

But it's still not the Bayou City's all-time high - though that's not far off.

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Before IAH became an official Houston-area rain measuring site in 1969, rainfall totals were recorded at a series of downtown locations, according to the National Weather Service.

In 1900 - the year an unnamed terror of a hurricane wrecked Galveston - just over 72.8 inches of water deluged the city's measuring spot, then located at the cotton station.

In 1909, the official measuring spot moved to the Stewart Building at Preston and Fannin, and 17 years later it shifted to the former Shell building at Texas and Fannin. Just over a decade later, it moved again, this time to the federal building at Franklin and Fannin, which is what many people think of as the downtown measuring site. Finally, in 1969 the recording locale moved north to IAH, where it has been ever since.

On Monday, the airport registered 71.3 inches of rain for the year, putting it within a stone's throw of a citywide record.

Though the bulk of this year's watery weather came from Harvey, Tropical Storm Cindy contributed a few inches, as did a rough round of rain and flooding that inundated cars and streets back in January.

"I would say it would be highly unlikely for us not to set a record this year at some point," said NWS meteorologist Molly Merrifield.

And that point could be quite soon.

"We're going to have periods of showers and thunderstorms pretty much every day for the next week or so," Merrifield said. "It'll be kind of like yesterday but not as widespread."