Rice: 18" is a lot of rain but look to Alvin for the record

When we reported on the 18-inch one-day rainfall totals for some rice-production areas near Beaumont last week, Garry McCauley said he was pretty sure that wasn't close to a record for Texas. He recalled that a hurricane in the late 1970s deposited a far larger amount in a 24-hour period. McCauley, a rice researcher at the Eagle Lake REC and acting Extension Rice Specialist, checked the sear engines and forwarded this note to us:

"Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July 1979."

This "factoid" is part of a larger compendium of Texas trivia and bar-room teasers that has appeared over the years on various web sites and blogs. We're not sure of the original source. Click here to go to one site that carries the entire list.