MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD JULY 2009 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 78 61 .74 T,DW Mostly cloudy, strong PM t-storm, wind gusts 40+ mph 2 75 61 Mostly cloudy 3 75 62 Partly cloudy 4 81 59 Partly cloudy, breezy 5 72 59 Mostly cloudy 6 80 54 Partly cloudy 7 76 56 Partly cloudy, becoming mostly cloudy, N breezes 8 75 54 Partly cloudy 9 80 55 Partly sunny, warmer 10 81 56 F AM fog, partly cloudy 11 84 62 T Partly cloudy, thunder from passing storms, no rain 12 85 67 Partly cloudy 13 78 57 Partly cloudy 14 76 52 Partly cloudy 15 85 54 Partly cloudy, becoming mostly cloudy 16 89 67 Partly cloudy, warm & humid 17 75 67 .55 T Mostly cloudy, thunderstorms late AM and again in evening 18 75 58 Partly cloudy 19 75 58 Partly cloudy 20 77 57 1.37 T Mostly cloudy, strong thunderstorm w/ heavy downpours 3-4pm 21 77 61 Mostly cloudy early, partial clearing 22 74 58 .15 F AM fog, partly cloudy, brief PM downpour 23 80 68 .06 F Overnight shower, AM fog, partly sunny 24 79 64 F AM fog becoming partly cloudy 25 86 61 F AM fog, partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy 26 78 65 .12 AM shower, remaining mostly cloudy 27 81 61 Mostly sunny 28 80 62 Mostly sunny 29 75 66 .92 F Heavy midday rain, severe storms to east, EF1 Tornado in Oldtown 30 78 67 .01 F Mostly cloudy, periods of drizzle and fog 31 78 68 1.26 F Steady rain, heavy at times, clearing by late afternoon AVG/SUM 78.6 60.5 5.18 0 - EXT 89 52 1.37 - - Date 16 14 20 - - *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 69.6 F (3rd coolest on record) Year precipitation to date: 26.52" Season snowfall to date: 0.0" Number of days with: Fog 8 Thunder 4 Damaging Winds 1 NOTES/SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 1: Strong thunderstorm this afternoon 2-3pm. Heavy rain .74" and WSW winds gusting 40+ mph during the storm 2-16: Long dry stretch - 15 consecutive days without any rain. Monthly low of 52 on the 14th was followed by the month's high of 89 on the 16th. 17: Two rounds of thunderstorms, late AM and again shortly before sunset. Most of the evening storms were to our south. Today's rain was the first rainfall since July 1 - 16 days ago. 20: Intense, slow-moving thunderstorm this afternoon from 3-4pm with very heavy downpours 1.37" fell within an hour and set a new 62-year daily record for July 20. 22: AM fog, brief downpour at 4:30pm 23: Overnight shower, heavy rain east of station EF1 TORNADO HITS OLDTOWN - FIRST ALLEGANY COUNTY TORNADO IN 11 YEARS 29: A heavy line of showers moved through around midday dropping .92" of rain. The line of showers suddenly turned into severe thunderstorms just to our east, spawning a surprise EF1 tornado that ripped through the NW side of Oldtown and the Pumpkin Center area. In that area, poles were snapped, many trees were uprooted, and heavy structural damage to some homes and a large barn were reported. The tornado was as wide as a football field (100 yards) and tore a swath of destruction at least 5 miles long. More wind damage in the NE end of the county indicated a possible longer path. This was the first tornado to hit Allegany County in 11 years since the massive F4 twister ravaged Frostburg on June 2, 1998, and is the 8th tornado in recent history. 31: A period of moderate to heavy and steady rain from early morning through mid-afternoon. 1.26" of rain fell, eclipsing the July 31 rainfall daily record of 1.25" in 1994. The rain and storms became severe again to the east, with several tornadoes in Frederick and Carroll Counties. MONTHLY SUMMARY July 2009 was an unusual weather month with a number of notable observations and statistics. First, this was an unusually cool July. The mean temperature of 69.6 F was the 3rd coolest ever on record. The July records were 68.7 F in 2001 and 69.0 in 2000. Also, for only the 4th time ever in July, the high temperature failed to reach 90. The other 3 years this happened was 1958, 2000 and 2004. Also of interesting note was that the month's high and low temperatures were set only two days apart. It was 52 on the 14th, and 89 on the 16th. It was also notable that every day had a min temperature in the 50s or 60s, and every day had a max temperature in the 70s or 80s. This was the first July ever with such a temperature distribution. The precipitation pattern was also interesting, in that the first half of the month was very dry, with an unusually long streak of days without any rainfall (15). The strong thunderstorm on the 1st was in fact the only rainfall during the entire first half of July. However, the second half was wet, with several heavy thunderstorms that seemed to drop more rain on our backyard than almost everywhere else in the immediate area. Rainfall records were set on the 20th and 31st. The month's biggest highlight, an event which made statewide news, was the surprise EF1 tornado that hammered Oldtown on the afternoon of the 29th. The twister did significant damage, but fortunately no major injuries were reported. This was the first tornado to hit Allegany County in over 11 years - since the monster F4 tornado ravaged the Frostburg area on June 2, 1998. One more notable statistic was that July was the 3rd consecutive month with over 5 inches of rain. The last three consecutive months with over 5" of rain were April, May and June 1998 (and by coincidence, the last time tornadoes hit the area, and also in the 3rd/final 5+ inch rain month). Additional notes/records 5: Record low max 72 F 17: Record low max 75 F 18: Record low max 75 F 20: Daily record 1.37" of rainfall 31: Daily record 1.26" of rainfall, eclipses 1994 record of 1.25". July 2009 had the coolest ever average maximum temperature for July at 78.6 F. Overall, July 2009 was the 4th coolest July on record with a mean temperature of 69.6 F and with no 90-degree days.