Summer 2011 in Review

At first recall, I think most folks would agree... When you look back on this past summer, one thing resonates. HOT. With today being the last official calendar day of summer, I thought it was appropriate to review the departing season and dissect what really took place. Above average temperatures are just one thing I noticed in my findings...

For the sake of this blog post, I'm taking into account the entire months of June, July, August, and the first half of September. I know that this is NOT the actual calendar equivalent of the summer season, but it illustrates the seasonal patterns better if done this way.

June. 30 days.

1. 18 days with temps above average (60%)


2. 10 days with temps below average (33.3%)


3. 2 days with temps right at average (6.6%)


4. 6 days with temps 90°+

July. 31 days.

1. 28 days with temps above average (90.3%)


2. 2 days with temps below average (6.45%)


3. 1 day with temps right at average (3.23%)


4. 20 days with temps 90°+

August. 31 days.

1. 21 days with temps above average (67.74%)


2. 5 days with temps below average (16.13%)


3. 5 days with temps right at average (16.13%)


4. 1 day with temps 90°+

September. 21 days. (excluding today -- data not yet released.)

1. 7 days with temps above average (33.3%)


2. 12 days with temps below average (57.14%)


3. 2 days with temps right at average (9.52%)


4. 3 days with temps 90°+

Right off the bat, you'll notice temperatures were above average more often than they were AT average, or below. Except for when we reached September. In the month of June, 60% of the days were above average while July brought temperatures above average 90% of the time! August was no exception with 67% above average. Then as September began to unfold, a new pattern started taking shape. Temperatures fell below average for extended periods of time, and days with temperatures below average have thus far outnumbered those with temperatures above average.

Another thing to notice this summer was monthly precip:

• June + .51'' (-3.29 below avg.)


• July + 3.34'' (+.54 above avg.)


• August + 3.19'' (+.04 above avg.)


• September (so far) + 3.84'' (already +1.86 above avg.)

While July was easily the hottest month of the summer, June was the driest. Bringing totals down more than 3'' below average, a serious lack of rain in the month of June left folks wondering when the seasonal rain would finally arrive. July provided the answer with rain totals slightly above average for the month, and August followed suit with rainfall amounts nearly dead-on.

Once again, a pattern change took place once calendar pages were flipped to September. Already this month, we've seen nearly 4 inches of rain -- leaving monthly totals nearly 2 inches above average. The patterns suggest something we've all known for a long time now: September is very much a transitional month, allowing summer to end as gracefully as possible and ushering in autumn. It will continue to do so as we finish out the month in just one short week, and say hello to October.