MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD JULY 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 74 51 Sunny, pleasantly cool, breezy 2 82 50 Mostly sunny 3 90 51 Mostly sunny, hot 4 96 58 Partly cloudy, hazy, hot 5 94 68 Partly cloudy, hazy, hot 6 96 68 Partly cloudy, hazy, hot 7 98 70 Partly cloudy, hazy, very hot 8 98 70 Partly cloudy, very hot, t-storms to E around Green Ridge 9 93 71 2.71 F,T Mostly cloudy, SW winds, t-storms 4-7pm w/ very heavy rain 10 84 67 Partly cloudy, cooler, NW breezes 11 86 60 Partly cloudy, warm, light N winds 12 80 63 T Partly cloudy, brief sprinkles, S winds 13 82 69 1.09 Becoming mostly cloudy, PM rain heavy at times 14 84 68 .60 Overnight rain, PM clearing, light N winds 15 88 68 Partly sunny 16 90 68 Partly sunny 17 90 68 F AM fog, partly cloudy, light SW winds 18 92 75 Partly cloudy, hot, humid, W breezes 19 90 70 .07 T Overnight showers w/ thunder, AM clearing, breezy 20 88 70 .12 F AM rain, partly sunny 21 88 72 .01 Partly cloudy, brief shower 22 90 70 .15 F Brief AM shower, fog, partly cloudy 23 96 69 Partly cloudy, extremely hot & humid, strong SSW breezes 24 96 82 Very hot overnight, extreme heat & humidity, windy 25 92 78 .19 T Partly sunny AM, brief PM t-storm 26 86 64 Partly cloudy, less humid, light NNW winds 27 89 59 Partly cloudy, increasing heat & humidity 28 92 64 Partly cloudy, hot, humid, light W winds 29 90 78 .01 Brief early AM shower, then clearing 30 81 62 Fair skies, cooler, low humidity 31 86 60 .37 Partly to mostly cloudy, late evening rain shower AVG/SUM 89.1 66.5 5.32 0.0 - EXT 98 50 2.71 - - Date 8* 2 9 - - *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 77.8 F (+5.0 °F, hottest July and month on record) Year precipitation to date: 24.66" (+0.12") Monthly precipitation departure: +1.63" (5.32" vs. 3.69") Season snowfall to date: 0.0" Number of days with: Fog 4 Thunder 3 NOTES/SIGNIFICANT EVENTS DRY - COOL - THEN VERY HOT 1: Cool low 51 high 74 with sunshine, low humidity, very nice day to start July 2: Cool low 50 F, warmer high 82, still low humidity. 3: Cool low 51 F, then hot & sunny high 90 F 4-8: Very hot with near-record temperatures, hazy sunshine, lightning from strong storms to the east on Green Ridge late on the 8th, 1+ inch of rain fell there but no rain or thunder at this station. RECORD RAINS 9: Became mostly cloudy. The extreme drought conditions came to an abrupt end late this afternoon as two intense, slow-moving thunderstorms between 4-7pm dumped very heavy rains 2.71" fell, a daily record and the 3rd most rain to fall in any day in July. Also ranks in the top 20 heaviest rain days overall. 10-12: Fair weather again, not as hot or humid MORE SOAKING RAIN 13-14: Steady, soaking rain, heavy at times, developed during the afternoon of the 13th and continued over- night into the early morning hours of the 14th. 1.69" of rain fell, 4.40" from the past two events. Rain was extremely heavy to the north in Bedford Co., with 4+" rain in the Bedford/Breezewood areas. 15-18: Another fair weather period with warm to hot temperatures and increasing humidity 19-22: Scattered showers & storms, very warm & humid EXTREME HEAT & HUMIDITY 23-24: Extreme heat & humidity highs 96, heat indeces near 110! ALL-TIME RECORD HIGH MIN TEMPERATURE 82 on the 24th breaks the previous record of 78 Aug. 23, 1968. Previous July record was 77 on 7/15/1995. 25: Another extremely warm overnight low 78 F, front came through with a t-storm from 2-3pm, storms were severe south & west of station where 1+ inch of rain fell along with several reports of damaging winds. Doppler radar indicated a possible tornado near Friendsville in Garrett Co. Oakland was also hard hit. 26-27: Fair with cooler temperatures and lower humidities. 28-29: Hot & humid again. Very warm overnight low 78 F on the 29th. Only .01" of rain fell as numerous showers & storms split repeatedly as they crossed the mountains. Cooler/less humid PM (29th). 30: Very nice day with plenty of sun and low humidity. 31: A rain shower developed overhead from 9-11pm this evening. 0.37" here, 1.04" recorded in Cumberland. MONTHLY SUMMARY July quickly enters the record books as the hottest July and month ever recorded in LaVale. Records began in 1948. The mean temperature of 77.8 F breaks the record of 77.2 F in 1999, which had eclipsed the 1988 record of 77.1 F. Combined with typical summer heat and humidity, the weather was oppressive. While no daily record highs were set, surprisingly, July's mean max temperature of 89.1 F was 4th warmest on record. However, there were many mere misses, and high humidities led to dangerous heat indeces, over 100 on many occasions. The most pronounced heat waves struck from the 4th-8th and again the 23rd-25th. Min temps began on the cool side, only to wind up in the record books, with many warm low temps in the 2nd half. Like 1988, this extremely hot month had a deceptively cool start. The high only reached 74 on the 1st, after a cool low of 51. In 1988, we had a high/low of 74/45. Like 1988, a major heat wave quickly invaded the region within a week. The 4th-8th all had temperatures in the mid to upper 90s, just shy of records set in 1966, 1977, 1988 & 1999. The 7th & 8th reached 98, the hottest readings in nearly 4 years. It was also 98 on Aug. 1-2, 2006. The July 7th & 8th records were 100 in 1988. During the second half of July, there were some unusually warm overnight min readings. Five set or tied records, and three such readings (78, 78 & 82) were higher than the previous July record of 77 on July 15, 1995. The min temp of 82 on the 24th shattered the previous daily record of 78 on August 23, 1968. Record high mins of 78 were also set on the 25th & 29th. This, after 77 on June 28th, 2010 set the all-time record high min for June. The precipitation stats were extremely deceptive. July was every bit as dry as June, with countless storms dissipating or splitting when they crossed the Allegheny Front. Lawns were extremely parched from the relentless hot & dry pattern, particularly early in the month. However, two big rain events within a week temporarily busted the drought conditions. On the 9th, slow-moving, torrential rain producing thunderstorms soaked this station with a daily record of 2.71" of rainfall. Another 1.69" of rain fell on the 13th-14th. 4.40" of total rain fell from these two systems. Less than an inch of rain fell the rest of the month. So the 5.32" of rainfall may look good on paper, but 83% of this total came from the two aforementioned events. Nevertheless, July was an above-normal precip month, continuing the yo-yo pattern of precipitation in 2010. Year precipitation to date is almost exactly average, 24.66" vs. 24.54" or 0.12" above average. ADDITIONAL NOTES/RECORDS 7-8: High 98 F both days 2 degrees shy of both days' record of 100 set in 1988. Both days hit 102 in Cumberland, with heat indeces 105+. 9: Record daily rainfall 2.71" smashes old record of 1.58" in 1970. 3rd heaviest rain for any day in July. 18: Record high min 75 F breaks old record of 72 in 1977. 21: Low of 72 F ties the record high min on this date in 1991. 24: ALL-TIME RECORD HIGH MIN TEMPERATURE 82 F! Old record for the date was 75 in 1972. High of 96 F just misses the record of 97 in 1987. Still the hottest day on record with a mean temp of 89.0 F, eclipsing the previous hottest day, 88.5 F on July 15, 1995 (high 100, low 77). 25: Another very warm record high min 78 F, shatters the 1965 record of 72. 29: Yet another unusually warm record high min 78 F, shatters 2002's record of 72. July 2010 was the HOTTEST July and month ever since records began in 1948 with a mean temperature of 77.8 F. This breaks 1999's record of 77.2 F, which had eclipsed 1988's record of 77.1 F. The mean max temperature of 89.1 F was the 4th warmest on record, and the mean min of 66.5 F set a new all-time record for ANY month. This was the 5th consecutive month with mean min temps ranking in the top 3 warmest, in 63 years of records. This record-setting month followed up the warmest June on record, which followed the warmest Spring on record. Wow!!!!!