February brought record rains to Sacramento. See how the month stacks up

The National Weather Service reported historic rain in downtown Sacramento on Wednesday where more than 2 1/2 inches of rain fell, outstripping a previous daily record set in 1940.

The deluge also helped push February 2019 up to the sixth-wettest in history. With 11 days of rainfall in February, close to 9 inches of rain has fallen downtown, which has one of the oldest recording stations in the city, according to data from the NOAA Regional Climate Centers. A normal February sees just over 3 inches of rain.

Forecasters said if it wasn’t for two leap years, 2019 would have been the fourth-wettest on record.

The rain season totals are also impressive.

More than 16 inches of rain has fallen at Sacramento Executive Airport since Oct. 1. That’s more than twice the amount that had fallen at this time last year and is about 3.3 inches more than the average year.

This story was originally published February 28, 2019 at 3:03 PM.