

Extreme summer rainfall dumped more than 8 inches of rain in parts of five states in the last week of July, causing disastrous floods and landslides. Thousands of residents were displaced, and at least 37 locals were killed in eastern Kentucky as flood water topped homes in the narrow valleys of the Appalachian Mountains. In one particularly tragic instance, rushing debris-laden floodwaters snatched four children between the ages of two and eight from the roof of a mobile home where a family sought refuge.
As global warming continues, the scientific consensus is that storms like these are expected to increase in force and frequency. State rainfall data shows that more state records have been established in recent decades. (For now, global warming shows no signs of slowing. Earth’s CO2 level rose every year since climate change became a national issue.)
To identify the record rainfall in every state, 247 Wall St. reviewed the maximum rainfall recorded within a 24-hour period in every state compiled by the State Climate Extremes Committee, a panel responsible for monitoring observations that may exceed all-time records for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Hawaii currently holds the U.S. 24-hour precipitation record after the island of Kauai received nearly 50 inches of rain on April 14-15, 2018, inundating homes in the area. (Also see, the hottest day on record in every state.)
In second place is Texas, where Tropical Storm Claudette dropped 42 inches of rain in and around the Houston suburb of Alvin in the summer of 1979. Luckily, no deaths were reported, and about 3,000 people had to be rescued by emergency crews, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The earliest standing 24-hour rainfall record belongs to Maryland. In the summer of 1897, a storm dropped almost 15 inches of rain near the town of Friendship, about 29 miles east of Washington D.C. In all, 10 states still hold rainfall records from earlier than 1954.
In the 1960s, four states broke their previous 24-hour rainfall records. Six records, including ones for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Island, were broken in both the 1970s and 1980s. Eleven records were broken in the 1990s, including three in 1996.
Six state 24-hour precipitation records have been broken since 2013, the most recent on Aug. 20-21, 2021, when nearly 21 inches of rain fell in and near McEwen, Tennessee, 55 miles west of Nashville.
Here are the record rainfalls in every U.S. state.

Alabama
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 32.52 in.
> Date(s): July 19-20, 1997
> Location(s): Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Alaska
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 15.05 in.
> Date(s): October 10, 1986
> Location(s): Seward
Arizona
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 11.4 in.
> Date(s): September 4-5, 1970
> Location(s): Workman Creek
Arkansas
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 14.06 in.
> Date(s): December 3, 1982
> Location(s): Big Fork

California
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 25.83 in.
> Date(s): January 22-23, 1943
> Location(s): Hoegees Camp

Colorado
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 11.85 in.
> Date(s): September 12, 2013
> Location(s): USGS Rod & Gun (Ft. Carson)
Connecticut
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 12.77 in.
> Date(s): August 19, 1955
> Location(s): Burlington
Delaware
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 12.48 in.
> Date(s): September 28-29, 2016
> Location(s): Harbeson

Florida
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 23.28 in.
> Date(s): November 11-12, 1980
> Location(s): Key West
Georgia
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 21.1 in.
> Date(s): July 6, 1994
> Location(s): Americus

Hawaii
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 49.69 in.
> Date(s): April 14-15, 2018
> Location(s): WaipÄ Garden (Kauai)
Idaho
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 7.17 in.
> Date(s): November 23, 1909
> Location(s): Rattlesnake Creek

Illinois
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 16.91 in.
> Date(s): July 18, 1996
> Location(s): Aurora

Indiana
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 10.5 in.
> Date(s): August 6, 1905
> Location(s): Princeton

Iowa
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 13.18 in.
> Date(s): June 14, 1998
> Location(s): Atlantic 1NE

Kansas
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours:
> Date(s): December 31, 1969
> Location(s): Under Review

Kentucky
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 10.48 in.
> Date(s): March 1, 1997
> Location(s): Louisville
Louisiana
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 22 in.
> Date(s): August 28-29, 1962
> Location(s): Hackberry

Maine
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 13.32 in.
> Date(s): October 20-21, 1996
> Location(s): Portland

Maryland
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 14.75 in.
> Date(s): July 26-27, 1897
> Location(s): Jewell (nr. Friendship)

Massachusetts
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 18.15 in.
> Date(s): August 18-19, 1955
> Location(s): Westfield
Michigan
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 12.92 in.
> Date(s): July 20, 2019
> Location(s): 6E Fountain

Minnesota
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 15.1 in.
> Date(s): August 19, 2007
> Location(s): Hokah 1S
Mississippi
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 15.68 in.
> Date(s): July 9, 1968
> Location(s): Columbus
Missouri
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 18.18 in.
> Date(s): July 20, 1965
> Location(s): Edgerton

Montana
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 11.5 in.
> Date(s): June 20, 1921
> Location(s): Circle (Springbrook)

Nebraska
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 13.15 in.
> Date(s): July 8-9, 1950
> Location(s): York
Nevada
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 7.78 in.
> Date(s): October 20, 2004
> Location(s): Mount Charleston

New Hampshire
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 11.07 in.
> Date(s): October 20-21, 1996
> Location(s): Mount Washington

New Jersey
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 14.81 in.
> Date(s): August 19-20, 1939
> Location(s): Tuckerton
New Mexico
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 11.28 in.
> Date(s): May 18-19, 1955
> Location(s): Lake Maloya
New York
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 13.57 in.
> Date(s): August 12-13, 2014
> Location(s): Long Island MacArthur Airport

North Carolina
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 22.22 in.
> Date(s): July 15-16, 1916
> Location(s): Altapass
North Dakota
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 8.1 in.
> Date(s): June 29, 1975
> Location(s): Litchville

Ohio
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 10.75 in.
> Date(s): August 7-8, 1995
> Location(s): Lockington Dam (nr. Sidney, Shelby Co. OH)

Oklahoma
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 15.68 in.
> Date(s): October 11, 1973
> Location(s): Enid

Oregon
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 11.77 in.
> Date(s): November 6, 2006
> Location(s): Nehalem 9NE

Pennsylvania
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 13.5 in.
> Date(s): June 22, 1972
> Location(s): York 3SSW Pump Stn

Puerto Rico
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 23.75 in.
> Date(s): October 7, 1985
> Location(s): Toro Negro Forest

Rhode Island
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 12.13 in.
> Date(s): September 16-17, 1932
> Location(s): Westerly

South Carolina
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 14.8 in.
> Date(s): September 16, 1999
> Location(s): Myrtle Beach

South Dakota
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 8.74 in.
> Date(s): May 6, 2007
> Location(s): Groton

Tennessee
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 20.73 in.
> Date(s): August 21, 2021
> Location(s): McEwen
Texas
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 42 in.
> Date(s): July 25-26, 1979
> Location(s): Alvin

Utah
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 5.08 in.
> Date(s): February 1, 1963
> Location(s): Deer Creek Dam
Vermont
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 9.92 in.
> Date(s): September 17, 1999
> Location(s): Mt. Mansfield

Virgin Islands (U.S.)
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 20 in.
> Date(s): September 4, 1979
> Location(s): Anna’s Hope (SC)

Virginia
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 14.28 in.
> Date(s): September 16, 1999
> Location(s): Williamsburg 2N

Washington
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 14.26 in.
> Date(s): November 23-24, 1986
> Location(s): Mt. Mitchell #2

West Virginia
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 12.02 in.
> Date(s): June 18, 1949
> Location(s): Brushy Run
Wisconsin
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 11.72 in.
> Date(s): June 24, 1946
> Location(s): Mellen

Wyoming
> Maximum rainfall recorded 24-hours: 6.06 in.
> Date(s): August 1, 1985
> Location(s): Cheyenne
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