Knoxville rang in 2019 on a soggy note, which was fitting because 2018 was one of the soggiest years on record.
By the time the ball had dropped in Market Square, Knoxville ended the year with more than 61 inches of rain -- the 8th rainiest year ever recorded in the city.
Typically, Knoxville sees an average of 47 inches of rain each year. The highest year on record was 1875 at nearly 74 inches.
The National Weather Service says the area started the year with a rainfall deficit, but quickly made up for that.
Fall played a big role in the rain this year. Usually, September, October, and November are some of the driest months, but this year we saw the fourth wettest fall ever recorded at 16.35 inches of rain.
And for the entire Tennessee River Valley, well, it was the wettest year on record, according to a tweet from TVA, surpassing the 1973 record of 65.1 inches!
But because this year was also warmer, snow totals landed low.
The 2 inches of snow Knoxville had this year ties for 113th on the record book, well below our average of 6.5 inches. The most snow ever recorded was over 54 inches in 1960 which dwarfs in comparison the 16.4 inches we saw in 1993, the year famous for its blizzard.
Using past trends to make predictions is difficult, but the Climate Prediction Center says the first three months of the year should be colder and wetter than normal.
That might make up for all that snowfall we didn't see in 2018.
As for kicking off 2019... we may be in for more of the same, according to NWS meteorologist Sam Roberts.
"The pattern looks to continue to be mild and wet, at least for the next few weeks going into the start of 2019," he said.