Chuck Otte [email protected]
County Extension Agent, Retired
With July historically being our hottest month of the year, the month brought an unexpected change in the trends with below normal temperatures, but unfortunately also below normal precipitation. The average daily high for July was 88.7, 1 degree below normal. The average overnight low was 67.7, 0.8 degree below normal. This gave us a monthly mean temperature of 78.2, 0.9 degree below normal.
The highest temperature for the month was the high of 101 on the 15th. This was the only temperature of 100 or above for the month. The lowest temperature for the month was the morning low of 61 on the 6th. The high of 73 on the 20th tied the record low high temperature for that date. The record was originally set in 1992. The overnight low of 81 on the morning of the 29th set a new record high low temperature for that date. The old record was 79 set in 1955. The monthly mean temperature of 78.2 is the coolest we’ve seen since 2019 and was a welcome change of pace.
The coldest July on record is a tie between 1960 and 1967 when we had a monthly mean temperature of 73.8. The hottest July on record was the brutal summer of 1954 when we had a monthly mean temperature of 87 degrees. That July had 19 days of temperatures of 100 or above and three consecutive days with an afternoon high of 114! July of 2012 came close to that record with a monthly mean high of 86.1 and also 19 days of 100 or higher daily high temperatures. Fortunately, daily highs “only” hit 106 in 2012!
While July rainfall fell short of average precipitation it was spread out well enough across the month to keep the region from going into serious drought conditions. The July rainfall of 3.20 inches was short of the long-term average of 4.14 inches. Year to date we are still running ahead of average. Normal year to date through the end of July is 21.10 inches. We have received 22.25 inches for that seven-month span, although some parts of the county have seen significantly more!
The driest July on record was in 1983 when a mere 0.04 inches was all that the rain gauges could collect. While many people feel that the wettest July was the flood year of 1951 the wettest July was in fact the year before, 1950, with a total of 13.65 inches of rain. July 1951 had 12.43 inches and is actually in third place with 1948 claiming second place at 12.99 inches. Rounding out the top five wettest Julys we have 1992 in fourth place at 12.32 inches and 1993, another flood year, with 11.53 inches. I find it interesting that the two big flood years, 1951 and 1993, were both preceded with wetter Julys in the previous year.
Days slowly start to get shorter in late June, following the summer solstice. Temperatures continue to rise until mid-July however and then start to slowly decline. August is reluctant to give much relief though with daily average highs starting the month at 89 and only dropping to 87 by the month’s end. Overnight lows are slowly dropping as well with expected low temperatures of 68 on the 1st and 65 on the 31st. The big decline in temperatures doesn’t really happen until September and October.
Average rainfall for August is up slightly from July with long term average of 4.55 inches. May through August are our wettest months of the year with 56% of the annual total expected to occur in those four months. If you add in April you are up to almost two thirds (65%) of our annual expected rainfall.