The rain that fell over four days in the Evansville area last weekend was enough to cause extensive flooding, swamping roads and neighborhoods.
It was also historic, according to the National Weather Service.
Sean Poulos, a meteorlogost with the agency’s Paducah, Kentucky, office, dug into the numbers after the rains finally ended Sunday.
In all, 7.81 inches of rain fell from Thursday through Sunday, It was only the fourth time on record that Evansville has received that much rain in a four-day span, and the first time it’s happened since 1996.
Here are the other three instances:
We asked Poulos to add some context to what happened, both in Evansville and in the area near Stendal, Indiana, where 10.85 inches fell over four days.
Here’s what he said about the Evansville rain: “This all fell within a 72 hour period though, so looking at the return frequency on that amount of rain it would be between a 25- and 50-year event.”
And for the area near Stendal in Pike County?
“That amount of rain in a 72-hour period has a return frequency of 200 years,” Poulos said.
The repeated deluges also contributed to Evansville experiencing its second-wettest June on record, with 10.34 inches for the month. The record holder remains June 1900, when 11.44 inches fell.
A typical June in Evansville sees 4.44 inches of rain, according to National Weather Service statistics.
June 2026 also takes the title of wettest month in Evansville since April 2014, when 10.97 inches of rain were recorded.
Other local rainfall totals, as reported by the National Weather Service:
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Those weekend downpours led to historic rain totals in Evansville area
Reporting by Ryan Reynolds, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ryan Reynolds, Evansville Courier & Press | USA TODAY Network
