February 2019 itself was the second wettest February of all time. Most of this can be attributed to the winter of 2018-2019, which was the wettest overall on record for the U.S. The longest drought on record in California since the US Drought Monitor began in 2000 finally came to an end this spring. Total damages are estimated to be near $3 billion in Nebraska and Iowa alone, and 4 deaths have also been associated with flooding. Drier weather in June did help to ease the flooding some, but still could not eliminate it entirely, as many areas still had flooding issues continuing well into the summer. This caused the May corn and soybean planting to be at the lowest numbers since at least 1992. Midwest precipitation in May remained above normal for the 10th straight month, allowing for the third wettest May on record. Additional wet and cold weather in April allowed the flooding to continue, significantly delaying corn and other crop planting over many areas. Parts of Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Wisconsin declared States of Emergency as above normal precipitation continued through the rest of the month. Rapidly melting snow, heavy rain, and a still-frozen ground lead to widespread flooding of the Mississippi and Missouri River watersheds. in March, bringing snow, heavy rain, and above-freezing temperatures to parts of the country that still had significant snowpack on the ground. A strong low-pressure system impacted the central U.S.

The first quarter of the year saw well above average precipitation amounts across most of the Midwest, with many areas having some of the wettest January to March period on record. There was a total of 71 reported deaths from Dorian, 63 of which were in the Bahamas, with over $8 billion dollars in damages. Dorian’s slow speed (traveling at less than 1 mph at times) combined with its intensity made the storm the most devastating for the Bahamas. Significant flood damage to many homes and businesses occurred on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, in addition to severe storm and tornado damage. coastal properties and isolated residents that did not evacuate. It still produced a destructive surge that inundated many U.S. landfall in Cape Hatteras NC on September 6th as a diminished Category 1 hurricane. Dorian then tracked offshore parallel to the Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coastline before making a U.S. A few days later, the storm finally moved away from the Bahamas. On September 1st, Dorian became a Category 5 storm, the strongest on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, before making landfall on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. By August 28th, the storm reached Category 1 hurricane status and by August 30th, Category 2. Tropical Depression 5 was first named Dorian on August 24th as it became a Tropical Storm.

Big weather event coming