May 8th 1995 Louisiana Flood - Rainfall

Rainfall

The heaviest rainfall from the first wave of rainfall occurred on the southshore of Lake Pontchartrain in the New Orleans metropolitan area, with a secondary maxima on the northshore. Heaviest rainfall from the second wave occurred across the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain and coastal Mississippi. By May 10th, rainfall totals of 10-20 inches were common. Some notable two-day totals from the National Weather Service archives and post-event surveys:

Official

• Abita Springs, LA: 24.46"
• Necaise, MS: 27.50"
• New Orleans (Tulane University), LA: 24.05"
• New Orleans (International Airport), LA: 9.67"
• New Orleans (Lakefront Airport), LA: 15.44"
• Slidell, LA: 19.09"

Unofficial/Unknown Source

• Harahan, LA: 14.88"
• Kenner, LA: 17.11"
• Metairie, LA: 19.39"
• New Orleans East, LA: 20.20"
• Mandeville, LA: 23.66"
• Madisonville, LA: 22.86"
• Covington, LA: 21.00"
• Lacombe, LA: 34.76"
• Hammond 8.54"

For both waves of rainfall, several locations neared or exceeded 24 hour rainfall amounts estimated as having a 1% chance of being exceeded in a given year, (100 year average recurrence interval) as determined by both the National Weather Service Technical Paper 40 and reports by the Southern Regional Climate Center.