Official records began Nov. 1, 1870 so the first full year of official rainfall data is 1871. But in Cincinnati fragmentary weather records go way back, all the way to the late 1780s at Fort Washington.
A nearly continuous set of daily weather observations begain on Jan. 1, 1814 when, in the wake of the War of 1812, Issac Jackson closed his mercantile business in New York City and moved west to start a farm and The Farmer's College in what is now College Hill.
With gaps in Jackson's records filled in by weather observations made at the Newport Barracks, the successor to Fort Washington when Fort Washington was crowded out by the rapid growth of Cincinnati, and by Smithsonian observers at Woodward High School we know about almost every day's weather back to 1814.
Monthly and yearly rainfall totals go back to 1835. They may go back farther but no older reliable rainfall records have been found in the archives.
So starting in 1835 when the final total for 2011 is reported we will have 177 years of rainfall records.
The wettest of those 177 years was 1847 with a remarkable total of 65.18" of rain. Right behind it is 2011 with another amazing total so far of 62.37" through November 15.
For years weather researchers have doubted the 1847 total but that year on December 9th and 10th the north fork of the Licking River was as much as 10 feet higher than ever known and that month the Ohio River cested close to 62' in Cincinnati. These events lend credibility to the measurement of 65.18" of rain in 1847.
With 1.5 months to go 2011 could well surpass 1847 as th wettest year of all.
Cincinnati 5 Wettest Years
| 1847 | 65.18" |
| 2011 | 62.37" |
| 1990 | 57.58" |
| 1850 | 54.76" |
| 1852 | 54.06" |
Cincinnati 5 Driest Years
1901 | 17.99" |
1934 | 22.76" |
1856 | 22.85" |
1930 | 24.49" |
1908 | 27.29" |
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