Covington County seemed to have bucked the statewide trend in October with its highest amount of rainfall recorded since 2009.

Data collected at the Yellow River collection site by the Choctawhatchee Pea and Yellow Rivers Watershed Management Authority shows that it rained 2.24 inches in October, which is the highest amount of rainfall recorded in the month since 2009 when it rained 6.48 inches.

In 2010 and 2011, October saw less than 1 inch of rain.

State climatologist Dr. John Christy said that Alabama was mostly dry in October, and drier than normal.

“And October is usually the driest month of the year,” he said. “How dry? In our sample, nine cities in the state tie for the record lowest October rainfall with zero inches for the entire month.”

And Christy said those numbers don’t represent one or two major droughts, but instead are spread across six years from 1924 to 2000.

“So, when Alabama has a drier than normal October, that says something,” Christy said. “And we did. In our sample of 25 stations, the average rainfall in October was 1.4 inches less than normal in October. Seven stations got less than one inch of rain.”

Not only did Covington County buck the trend in October, but it has also surpassed the amount of rainfall through the middle of November for the entire 2010 and 2011 yearly totals.

So far, the county has seen 49.12 inches of rainfall. In 2011, the county only recorded 43.8 inches total, and in 2010, it recorded 45.64.