Although Cincinnati officially recorded slightly less rain than normal in July, East Side neighborhoods battered by a deadly 1,000-year storm saw more than 10 inches of precipitation, making it the area's second-wettest July on record. And that was on the heels of the wettest June on record there.
According to the National Weather Service, Cincinnati recorded 3.74 inches of rain in July, that is 0.09 inches below normal. The month's highest daily rainfall total occurred July 18, when overnight storms killed one person and flooded homes and businesses across the region.
The weather service also highlighted several severe weather events during the month, including flash flooding and heavy rainfall July 17, additional flooding and severe storms July 21,
and damaging winds July 27.
July storms and rain in Cincinnati area
The July 17 storm produced the heaviest rainfall in eastern Cincinnati and the Hamilton County communities of Norwood, Silverton, Fairfax and Mariemont, where rainfall totals reached 4 to 5 inches.
A cluster of thunderstorms on July 21 brought damaging winds, several confirmed tornadoes and additional flooding. Another round of storms July 27 produced damaging winds across parts of Indiana, Kentucky and western Ohio.
Cincinnati's East Side sees second-wettest July, wettest June
While July's rainfall total was slightly below average, data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that Cincinnati's East Side experienced the second-wettest July on record, with 10.18 inches of precipitation. The wettest July recorded at the Cincinnati Municipal Airport/Lunken Field was in 1958, when 10.70 inches fell.
This year the East Side also had the wettest June on record, with 11.77. In 2025, Lunken Field received 58.88 inches of precipitation, the second-highest annual total on record. The record remains 58.90 inches, set in 1996.
Even though last year recorded the second-highest rainfall, the East Side, which includes the Oakley, Hyde Park, Mount Lookout and Fairfax communities, has already received more precipitation in June and July this year than it did during the same two-month period in 2025.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati July rain was below normal. East Side is a different story
