MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD AUGUST 2010 OBSERVER SCOTT LOHR DATA COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY NATE MULLINS 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 DAY 24-hour Rain Snow/ Snow Special WEATHER Date Max Min Equiv Ice Depth Obs. SUMMARY 1 81 64 Variably cloudy 2 83 65 Partly to mostly cloudy 3 81 65 T Variably cloudy, few sprinkles 4 92 70 .22 T,DW Mostly cloudy, hot, humid, severe PM t-storm 5 86 69 Fair/partly cloudy 6 82 71 Fair/partly cloudy 7 86 58 Fair/partly cloudy 8 88 60 Fair/partly cloudy 9 93 62 Mostly sunny, hot 10 94 67 Sunny, very hot & humid 11 95 70 Sunny, extreme humidity & very hot 12 91 73 Variably cloudy, hot, humid 13 73 71 .05 Light AM drizzle, much cooler 14 74 69 Mostly cloudy, cool 15 92 70 .03 AM drizzle, then partly cloudy, hot 16 93 71 Partly to mostly cloudy, hot 17 92 64 Mostly sunny, hot 18 73 66 .02 Mostly cloudy, much cooler, brief shower 19 88 61 F AM fog, then sunny, very warm 20 93 62 Partly sunny, hot 21 92 67 Partly to mostly cloudy, hot 22 80 70 .42 Overnight rain, partly cloudy, breezy 23 73 68 + Mostly cloudy, breezy, PM showers, cooler 24 72 62 .45 Overnight showers, mostly cloudy, cool 25 75 62 F AM fog, mostly cloudy, cool 26 80 63 F AM fog, partly cloudy 27 82 54 Cooler AM, sunny, pleasant 28 88 54 Cool AM, warm PM, fair, breezy N winds 29 93 61 Sunny, hot 30 92 62 Sunny, hot 31 94 62 Sunny, hot AVG/SUM 85.5 64.9 1.19 0.0 - EXT 95 54 0.45 - - Date 11 28* 24 - - *=Also occurred on earlier dates +=see next day's precip total Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 75.2 F (+3.8 F) Year precipitation to date: 25.85" (-1.98") Monthly precipitation departure: -2.14" Season snowfall to date: 0.0" Number of days with: Fog 3 Thunder 1 Damaging Winds 1 NOTES/SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 1-3: Warm, humid DEADLY DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS 4: Hot, humid. Line of severe thunderstorms ripped through around 2pm with severe wind gusts. This neighborhood mostly dodged the bullet, but many trees were down countywide. In Cumberland, winds were clocked at 78 mph, and a falling tree killed a woman riding a bike, the first direct weather-related death in the area in recent history. One of the worst wind storms in years. 5-8: Warm, somewhat less humid 9-12: A very hot, humid, and dry period. On the 12th severe thunderstorms and torrential rains repeatedly tracked just north and east of the area. No rain or thunder at this location. 13-14: Brief cooldown. 15-21: Hot & humid again every day except for the 18th. 22: Some showers moved through the area overnight, briefly heavy at times 23-24: Cooler with rain showers, 0.45" of rainfall. 27-28: Cooler nights, pleasant low humidity, fair warm days 29-31: Hot & dry MONTHLY SUMMARY Another month in 2010 enters the record books in the top 5. August 2010 was the 5th warmest (mean min of 64.9 F ranking 3rd warmest) on record with a mean temperature of 75.2 F. The previous 5th warmest was recently in Aug. 2006. While no daily record highs were set, 5 record high mins were broken or tied, and daytime highs were still well above normal, with 13 days in the 90s. Already this year 38 days have reached 90+, the most since the record-tying year 1991, which had 51 days reaching 90+ (1983 also had 51 days 90+). August was the 6th consecutive month with above normal temperatures. The summer of 2010 was the hottest summer and season ever, since records began in 1948. Its mean temperature of 75.6 F shatters the 1991 and 1995 records of 74.2 F. The weather pattern was extremely quiet through the entire month, with only weak fronts bringing brief cool spells in the midst of a persistent hot, humid and very dry period. Large clusters of heavy rain and storms seemed to by-pass this location in every direction. Only one thunderstorm was seen in August, but his storm produced violent wind gusts in the area, causing a freak death in Cumberland, where winds hit an incredible 78 mph. The storm, however, did not drop much rain. The three westernmost counties in Maryland (Garrett, Allegany and Washington) have been in a raging drought much of the summer. At this location, only 1.19" of rain was recorded all month, making this the 3rd driest August on record. Other parts of central and northern MD were soaked multiple times and had above normal precipitation. It seems as though the mountains evaporated everything. Current observer Scott Lohr best summed up the conditions as "horribly dry." ADDITIONAL NOTES/RECORDS: 4: 78 mph wind gust reported in the Cumberland/Ridgley area, one of the highest wind gusts ever recorded in the area. Speaking of 78, on this date in 1978, Cumberland was severely flooded by a slow-moving thunderstorm that dumped 4.12" of rain in 2 hours. 5: Low of 69 F ties the record high min for the date, previously set in 1995. 6: Low 71 F breaks record high min of 70 in 2008. 12: Low 73 F breaks the record high min of 71 in 2001. 13: Low 71 F ties record high min, previously set in 1995. 22: Low 70 F ties record high min, previously set in 1975. August 2010 is the 3rd driest August on record with 1.19" of rainfall. This is the 3rd in the past 5 months to rank in the top 5 driest in 63 years of records. August 2010 is the 5th warmest August on record with a mean temperature of 75.2 F. The warmest August was 76.3 F in 1995. The mean minimum of 64.9 F is the 3rd warmest on record. This is the 6th consecutive month with min temperatures ranking in the top 5 warmest and also the 6th straight above-average temperature month. The Summer of 2010 was the HOTTEST summer and season EVER with a mean temperature of 75.6 F, shattering the record of 74.2 F set in 1991 and again in 1995. This follows a record-tying (with 1991) spring mean of 55.4 F.