We turn the page on the calendar to a new month today, but it looks like we’re facing more of the same heat and humidity to start August that we felt for the vast majority of July.  Yes, it certainly was a hot July for us and the electric bills are evidence of that as the air conditioning has been in almost constant use in most homes fortunate to have it.  We talked a little yesterday about how July 2012 ranks among all-time Rochester records and now that the month is over, we can look at the final figures.  As it turns out, the month ranks fourth among the warmest in Rochester history with a mean temperature of 77.1°.  We typically experience nine high temperatures of 90° or greater in Rochester in a calendar year, but so far we’ve had 16 and we may continue that toasty, warmer than normal trend in August.  Here’s more climate data:

We just completed the fourth warmest July on record and the warmest overall month since July 1955.

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We’re just hours away from wrapping up one of the warmest months of July in several decades in our area as only a handful of the days were even close to the type of weather we typically see in this climate.  In other words, with just a few exceptions we’ve been much warmer than average or what we consider “normal”.  In Rochester, we’ve been averaging 87.6° for high temperatures this month while 81° would have been normal according to the averages of the past 30 years while the average low has been a warm 66.8°.  Strangely enough, only one record has been broken this month and that was on Independence Day when our morning low was 75°, the warmest low ever for that date.  Incidentally, the high that day was 93° and was the fifth in a series of seven consecutive days with official highs in the 90s.

By the way, we’re expecting warmer than normal conditions again today to round out the month with highs in the mid 80s, so the July average likely won’t drop much, if at all.

Warmest Mean July Temperatures in Rochester History:

The third warmest July in Rochester history with only three days at or below normal for high temperatures (all in the last week.)

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Things are feeling hot and steamy as we kick off the last full week in the month of July today, but the good news is we have a few chances for much needed rain and some cooler weather in the forecast.  Right now, a disturbance is producing some scattered showers and may produce some thunderstorms today and tonight along a stalled front that is draped across our area.  There may be a few heavier downpours tonight in some of the stronger storms.  There will be hit and miss stuff through tomorrow as well, but I think the better looking scenario is ahead on Wednesday as a potent cold front approaches from the west.  That may end up being the wettest, stormiest day of the week with a chance for strong thunderstorms as well as some soaking rainfall.  Behind that front, we’ll go from having highs in the mid and upper 80s tomorrow and Tuesday to the low 80s with lower humidity in the air for the tail end of the week and for Saturday.  It looks like that cool down will last for two or three days with a little more heat and humidity possibly returning Sunday and for the first part of next week.

Hot, steamy, unsettled weather is the rule to start the week and things will remain warmer than normal through the middle of the week as the jet stream stays north of us.

The jet stream is expected to buckle southward while a surface cold front pushes through the area later in the week, allowing for a brief cool down for Friday and Saturday as highs will be near 80.

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We’re enjoying such a gorgeous, comfortable day to start the week today with bright sunshine and a dry atmosphere, but we do still have plenty of more typical summer-like heat and humidity in the forecast, so those enjoying this weather will have to soak up as much of it as they can this afternoon.  Right now strong Canadian high pressure anchored to our east is pumping that cool, dry air into our local area from the heart of the Great Lakes, but as it drifts away to the southeast tonight, its influence on our weather will wane.  A little more heat will build in tomorrow while humidity will remain reasonable for one more day and then a major blast of heat is expected to reach of Wednesday and Thursday.  The jet stream aloft will push northward, allowing this batch of central plains heat to blow into the Upper Mississippi Valley, so upper 80s and some 90s will be the rule for the foreseeable future, making the end of of June very July-like indeed.

Hot, humid air will blow into the Upper Midwest Wednesday and will likely stick around through the weekend and possibly next week as well.

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Well folks, happy end of July. We had as pretty close to normal of a month as you can get – and a whopper of a difference from our LAST July. I’ll get the specifics up here tomorrow.

Enjoy a toasty, muggy August 1st. We’ll have partly sunny skies with a very small chance of a spotty shower. More rain and storms, at least a better chance, looks to be instore for Monday and Tuesday….

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Just looking at our wimpy July temperatures in Rochester. Here’s the rundown so far:

Average high: 75° (normal: 81°)
Average low: 56° (normal: 60°)
Days in the 60s: 4
Days in the 70s: 17
Days in the 80s: 5
Days in the 90s: 0!!!!
Highest temp: 83°
Lowest temp: 50°
Records? You bet. 63° on the 17th set a cold record high!

Typically the Rochester area sees 3 days of 90° readings in July. According to climate, it’s typically the hottest month of the year.

No heat waves in sight for the next several days. Enjoy the break in the a/c bill.

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We’re most likely going to be setting new record cold high temperatures today. Here are a sampling of some current records that stand for July 17th, followed by the year that occurred.

Mason City: 67°, 1958
Austin: 68°, 1938
Decorah: 71°, 1984
Rochester: 71°, 1958 & 1994
Winona: 72°, 1906

Rochester’s coldest ever recorded daily high in the month of July was 58°, in 2000. I don’t think we’ll break that record today.

Data is courtesy of the National Weather Service.

For some other cities in the La Crosse NWS area, click here.
For a few other cities in the Des Moines NWS area, click here.

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Steph told us last week there are 6 days on average we reach up to the 90°s during the summer months - we had 3 days in 2007, and none yet in 2008.  It may seem like we’re having a cooler start to our summer than normal, but our climate records show we have not hit a 90° day in June since 2005! 

As we wrap up June, our warmest day was on the 25th as we edged close to the 90° mark with a high of 89°. Our coolest start was on the 17th at 51°.  We’re actually slightly above normal as our average high temperature for June was 77.9° and our average low was 58.4°.

Even without the 90° weather yet, fans of the hot weather might be glad to hear in 2006 and 2007 when the 90° mark didn’t come in June, we still had warmer than average temperatures throughout the summer.  Keep the sunglasses close  

If you’re thinking June was wetter than normal, you are right!  We have 3.15″ more than the average amount of precipitation.  The majority of that rainfall came to us during a stretch of severe weather activity at the beginning of the month. 

Normals for July in the Rochester area are 80.1° for the average high and 60.1° for the low with 4.61″ of precipation. 

And, believe it or not, by the time the end of July rolls around, we will already have lost close to an hour of daylight.

We’ll see where we end up! Enjoy the last day of June, everyone!

Posted under climate, KTTC, weather