JACKSONVILLE. Fla. – Rain typically dries up when record temperatures scorch an area, but heat, rain and dew point hit all-time records for Jacksonville on Sunday.
The heat spell cooked the air with tying back-to-back record high events this weekend combined with record rain Sunday evening.
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Jacksonville International Airport hit 98°, tying the record set in 2011. All the humidity sent the peak heat index to 116° degrees.
The amount of moisture measured in the air can be indicated by what’s called the dew point. It also tied a record of 80° set on Aug.11. Warmer air is capable of holding more moisture, which dropped the rain fast.
Excessive hot and humid air resulted in the top five fastest accumulating rainfall events on record in Jacksonville since records began being kept in 1890.
The heavy thunderstorm at JAX dumped 3.17 inches of rain at the airport, but more impressive were the rainfall rates for Maximum Short Duration Precipitation (MSDP) with 2.68" in 30 minutes.
The record rainfall at JAX fell in just over one hour.