MONTHLY WEATHER OBSERVATIONS LAVALE MD AUGUST 2003 OBSERVER NATE MULLINS Observations for this month taken by Steve and Sara Mullins Also help from neighbor David Drewery on 8/1 Note this station uses daylight savings time when it applies. Special Observations: F=fog, T=thunder, H=hail, S=sleet, G=glaze, DW=damaging winds Observation time for this station is midnight. Temperature, °F Precipitation, In. Liquid Solid 7am 24-hour Temp Rain Snow/ Snow Date Max Min at Obs Equiv Ice Depth Special Obs. 1 79 67 .10 2 85 68 .34 T 3 82 70 .47 T 4 80 67 .16 5 80 63 .52 F,T 6 81 60 .14 F,T 7 80 61 .22 F,T 8 83 67 F 9 81 68 .47 F,T 10 82 65 .17 F,T 11 76 67 .07 F 12 83 64 .02 F,T 13 83 67 F 14 90 68 .01 F 15 84 64 F 16 85 68 .03 17 83 65 .03 F,T 18 84 62 19 85 57 20 90 63 F 21 87 64 22 93 64 T 23 82 62 24 77 51 25 85 57 26 80 67 .54 T 27 79 63 .69 T 28 80 59 F 29 85 68 .03 F 30 79 69 .04 F 31 69 64 .02 AVG 82.3 64.2 SUM 4.07 0.0 - EXT 93 51 MAX 0.69 - - Date 22 24 DATE 27 - - +=Also occurred on earlier dates. Miscellaneous Stats: Mean Monthly Temperature: 73.3 F Year Precipitation to Date: 35.19" Season Snowfall to Date: 0.0" Number of days with: Fog: 16 Ice Pellets: 0 Glaze: 0 Thunder: 12 Hail: 0 Damaging Winds: 0 NOTES AND/OR SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: 1: Light rain ended overnight .04" fell. Shower about 2pm another .05", total rain .09". Skies cleared after 5pm. 2: A shower this evening 6-7pm produced 0.20" rain. Almost continuous lightning and thunder to the N & NE began about 9pm. Brief storm came in from the SW about 10:45 pm with another .11" rain, total .31". The storms merged just to the north where up to 4 inches of rain caused flooding in Bedford County PA. 3: Thunderstorm 5:45-6:20pm with gusty winds and heavy rain, .35" fell. Severe storm warnings were in effect with damaging winds being reported in some parts of the county but storm was not severe at this station. Light rain continued through 9pm .43" total. 4: An isolated shower between 2-2:30pm dropped a quick .16" rain in 15 minutes. 5: Some strong thunderstorms between 5-7pm. Intense lightning and quick heavy downpours. The heavy rains didn't last that long with 0.50" falling total. The brunt of the storms were to the east with minor street flooding reported in the Cumberland area. 6: Heavy fog this morning. Partly sunny day, but another isolated thundershower dropped 0.11" rain between 1:30-2pm. 7: Thunderstorms to the east 3-4pm slowly inched this way but dissipated as they moved through. Still a good shower between 3:45-4:15pm with .20" rain. NOTE: It has rained every day so far in August and is the 8th consecutive day with measurable rainfall. 8: NO measurable rain today, breaks the streak of 8 consecutive. Heavy clouds and threatening skies all day long but all the rains and storms were to the west today. 9: Another very hazy, humid day with heavy overcast. Evening showers with some thunder between 6-7:30pm, rain was moderate to heavy at times total .46" fell. 10: Another warm, variably cloudy & humid day with AM fog. Storms to the SW this evening were moving this way but dissipated, light rain 8pm-midnight produced .16" rain. 11: Few light showers overnight .03" and fog again this morning. Mostly cloudy & humid but no more rain fell today. 12: Dense AM fog. Very familiar story this afternoon. Strong storms to the south 3-4pm with frequent lightning & thunder were moving directly this way but fell apart the moment they got into LaVale. Only .02" rain fell at this station. 14: A hazy, hot & humid day after dense AM fog. High 90 F with high humidity & heat index. Note: Fog occurred every day between the 5th and 15th (11 consecutive days). 16: No fog today. Light shower about 10am .02" rain. Lightning to the WNW late this evening 11pm-midnight but only light rain was falling at this station. Total .03" 17: Massive storm cell just to the WNW split and went north & south of this station 12-1am. Only light rain. I don't know how many times this has happened the past couple months. More storms to the S & E late afternoon through 7:30pm but all of them missed again. 20: Heavy AM fog, a partly cloudy and hot day high 90 F 22: HOTTEST DAY OF 2003 so far high 93 F. Strong storms to the ENE about 5pm and more storms went to the N & NE 8:45-10pm with constant lightning & some thunder but no rain. 24: Cool morning low of 51 F, by far the coolest of the month so far. A beautiful sunny day with light breezes, pleasant temperatures, low humidity & brilliant blue skies. STRONG AND SEVERE STORMS 26: An intense thunderstorm this morning 9:30-10am with .54" rain in 20 minutes and gusty winds 20-30mph. Very brief storm this afternoon, only a few sprinkles here but storms quickly got severe to the east. More storms threatened just before midnight with gusty winds but still no rain. Damaging winds were reported nearby in the Frostburg area. 27: Rain and thunderstorms began about 7am. Rain was mostly light but a severe storm cell moved through 10:30-11:15am with heavy downpours, frequent lightning & gusty winds. The southwest part of LaVale was hardest hit with street flooding, hail & damaging winds that blew down trees. Severe storms grazed the area again mainly to the south early this evening with more damaging winds in the area. Total rain .69" fell. STORMS SPLIT AGAIN--WHAT'S NEW? 30: Morning shower .04" rain fell. Another long solid line of showers and storms managed to somehow split apart again and go north & south of this station then reform to the east. 31: Coolest high of the month only 69 F today as heavy low clouds kept the temperature down. Light shower 10-10:30pm only .02" fell. AUGUST SUMMARY: August is the first month in 2003 with above average temperatures, although only slightly. Temperatures were relatively consistent, although the high & low occurred just 2 days apart. Precipitation was also slightly above average. Thunderstorms were numerous but storms split countless times as they did in July and there were no really high amounts from any one storm. Additional notes/records 26th: Daily record rainfall .54" 27th: Daily record rainfall .69" 31st: Daily record low max 69 F August 2003 had a mean minimum temperature of 64.2 F, 3rd warmest on record for August.