MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD AUGUST 2011 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 94 68 T Partly cloudy, hot, brief PM sprinkles 2 93 68 Partly to mostly cloudy, hot 3 78 74 .02 Brief pre-dawn shower, overcast, much cooler 4 90 74 Variable clouds, hot & humid again 5 87 75 Mostly cloudy, warm 6 80 75 .40 Mostly cloudy, mid-day steady rain 7 86 72 .01 Mostly cloudy, very brief shower 8 87 72 Partly to mostly cloudy 9 86 69 .14 AM light rain, partly cloudy, PM shower 10 85 69 .03 T Brief overnight t-storm, clearing, breezy 11 80 60 Sunny, pleasant 12 87 53 Sunny, cool AM, warm PM 13 85 60 T Mostly cloudy, sprinkles, heavy rain just to east 14 83 62 2.09 T AM light rain, torrential thunderstorm downpour 5-6pm 15 74 63 .06 Mostly cloudy, cooler, light PM showers 16 83 67 Partly cloudy 17 84 65 Partly cloudy 18 86 65 Partly cloudy 19 85 61 .66 F,T AM fog, partly cloudy, series of PM t-storms 20 85 59 F AM fog, then partly cloudy 21 84 64 .02 Partly sunny, brief PM shower 22 75 62 Fair & cooler 23 82 52 Sunny, cooler AM, 5.8-magnitude earthquake 24 86 55 Partly cloudy, warm 25 82 67 .28 T Cloudy, mainly AM rain with thunder 26 86 59 Partly cloudy 27 82 70 .06 Mostly cloudy, brief showers from Irene 28 81 70 Partly cloudy 29 74 58 Partly cloudy, cooler 30 81 52 Mostly sunny, cool AM 31 83 56 Mostly sunny & pleasant AVG/SUM 83.7 64.4 3.77 0.0 - EXT 94 52 2.09 - - Date 1 30* 14 - - *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 74.0°F (+2.5°F) Year precipitation to date: 31.13" (+3.30") Monthly precipitation departure: +0.48" (normal August 3.29") Season snowfall to date: 0.0" Number of days with: Fog 2 Thunder 4 NOTES/SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 1-2: Very hot & humid highs of 94 and 93, respectively. 3-8: Six consecutive min temperatures in the 70s, the first five were record high mins. 6: Cooler with much-needed steady rain, not drought-busting by any means, .40" fell. 14: Light AM showers, then a drenching thunderstorm between 5-6pm dumped >2" of rain in less than an hour. This storm prompted severe thunderstorm warnings in Cumberland, though there were no reports of large hail or damaging winds. 2.09" of rain today smashes the previous daily record of 0.65" in 1975. 19: Relentless afternoon thunderstorms. 0.66" of rain here - the worst of the storms were to our west in the Frostburg area, where nearly 2" of rain was recorded. 23: Very rare 5.8-magnitude earthquake @ 1:51pm, centered in central VA. Quake was felt here and across nearly the entire eastern US and even into southern Canada. 25: Mostly morning rain and thunder from a weakening cluster of storms, .28" rainfall. 27: 6th record high of the month with a min of 70. Light rain showers from the western edges of Hurricane Irene, which brought massive rain, wind & flooding to eastern part of the state and the entire east coast from North Carolina to New England. Additional Notes/Records: 3: Record high min 74. Previous record 72 in 2006. 4: Record high min 74. Previous record 72 in 1989. 5: Record high min 75. Previous record 69 in 2010. 6: Record high min 75. Previous record 71 in 2010. 7: Record high min 72. Previous record 71 in 2006. 14: Daily record rainfall 2.09" smashes previous record 0.65" in 1975. 27: Record high min 70. Previous record 69 in 2006. *August 2011 had the 5th warmest mean min temperature on record, 64.4°F. *The summer of 2011 was the SECOND HOTTEST summer on record with a mean temperature of 74.4°F. The hottest summer was just last year, 2010, with a mean temperature of 75.6°F. MONTHLY SUMMARY 2011's trend of above normal temperatures continued in August, the 7th consecutive month with above normal temps. Every month in 2011 has seen above normal temperatures, except for January. Highs were generally around normal, with a remarkable 24 days in the 80s and only 3 days, all within the first 4 days of the month, reaching 90 or higher. Once again, min temperatures were well above normal, particularly early in the month. 68 was the lowest reading during the first 10 days, and 6 consecutive days had lows in the 70s from the 3rd-8th, a remarkable streak. There were 8 total min temperatures of 70+, 6 of them setting new daily record highs. Low temperatures after the 10th were generally much more seasonal, but still, the month's mean min of 64.4°F ranked 5th warmest in 64 years of records. August finished off another extremely hot summer, which ranked 2nd hottest on record, with a mean temperature of 74.4°F. Only last year, 2010, was hotter, with a mean temperature of 75.6°F. 2011 was the second consecutive year that a very cold winter has been followed by an extremely hot summer. With all of this said, August was much more tolerable than July, which was downright brutal & was the hottest month on record. Record amounts of rain fell to our east, largely due to the extreme amounts of rain, 10+ inches in some areas, that fell from Hurricane Irene as she charged up the east coast late in the month. Once again, we had to rely on scattered thunderstorms for desperately needed rainfall. Finally, a couple of big thunderstorms around mid-month pushed rainfall above normal, for the first time since May. Over half of the month's rain fell within an hour on the 14th, when a slow-moving, intense storm dumped over 2" of rain in that time. Had it not been for this thunderstorm, 2011 would have been the 2nd driest summer since records began in 1948. The driest summer was 1966 with 3.82". The summer of 2011 was strikingly similar to 1991, which, at the time, was the hottest summer on record. Both years had a warm, dry June, extreme heat & drought in July, and a very warm August with little rainfall until a lone, drenching thunderstorm saved us from near-record dryness. While not weather-related, a very rare 5.8-magnitude earthquake, centered in central VA, shook the entire eastern US, from the deep south to southern Canada, on the 23rd. Here, the quake was definitely felt but without any notable damage. Minor structural damage included the Washington Monument in D.C., closer to the epicenter. Fortunately, there were no deaths or major injuries from the largest eastern US earthquake in 114 years.