This story is part of the KXAN Data Hub, where numbers help tell the whole story.
We’ve created several data-driven stories and databases on topics including weather and climate, politics, education, sports and growth in Texas. Each story in the KXAN Data Hub is updated as new data becomes available.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — From the triple digits to the 60s, and from drought to deluge, the Austin City Limits music festival has seen a variety of wild weather since its inception in 2002.
KXAN dug through the archives to find the hottest, coolest and wettest ACL festivals in history.
What’s the hottest and coolest ACL Festival in Austin history?
The first several years of the festival were held in September, but more recent additions have been in October. Austin’s average highs during that time of the year range from the low 90s in mid September to the low 80s by mid October.
But one festival stands far and away above the rest as the hottest of all time. Day 3 of 2005’s edition of the festival saw high temperatures in Austin reach 107°. Only one other festival day has reached the triple-digit mark.
Eight ACL days have seen high temperatures below 80°, including Day 5 of the 2019 festival, which saw a high of only 65°, making it the coolest festival day ever seen.
Since 2002, the average high temperature on each festival day has been 88.5°.
What’s the wettest ACL Festival in Austin history?
While rain isn’t a guarantee during the ACL festival, several weekends have had much more than their fair share.
In 2013, more than 6″ of rain fell during Weekend 2 of the festival, including 4.22″ on Oct. 13 alone. Heavy thunderstorms trained over the Austin metro area that morning, flooding Zilker Park and causing officials to cancel the final day of the festival.
Two other ACL weekends have seen more than an inch of rain: Weekend 2 of 2014 and Weekend 2 of 2018.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, 16 festival weekends have been bone dry.
More from our Austin Weather History series:
- Valentine’s Day
- St. Patrick’s Day
- 4th of July
- Halloween
- Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
- New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day
Click here to view the latest forecast from the First Warning Weather team.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
