MONTHLY SUMMARY: JULY 1998 UPDATED: 8/17/98 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...A NEAR-AVERAGE WARM BUT DRY JULY 1998... ...WESTERN & NORTHERN AREAS EXCEPTIONALLY DRY... NOTES FROM "AROUND THE LEAGUE"- Alexandria - Rick noted at 102 degree high on the 23rd. This was also the highest temperature for the year. Annandale - Lowell noted a very dry July with temps slightly below average, a departure of -0.5. This month was the 4th driest July in the last 18 years with only 1997, 1993, 1985 drier. Only 2 days had temps equal to or greater than 95 degrees while 8 days reached >= 90 degrees. Only July '87 had measurable rain on fewer days (6) than July 1998 which had 7 (also noted for 1997 and 1993). A thunderstorm on the 21st caused a west wind of 36 MPH (2nd highest gust in 12 years since the 48 MPH in 1996). Lowest high minimum temperature for July since 1992 with a 74 degree reading on the 17th. July was the 1st month in 1998 to have below average precip. The 96 degree reading on the 22nd was the highest temp reached this year and was the highest max since 8/17/97. Arlington - NWS WBC reports a July that saw temps average some 1.1 degrees below normal while precip was 2.01" below normal. The month is the driest so far in '98. Blacksburg - The average monthly temp was only 0.6 deg. above normal with no days being more than 5 deg. warmer or cooler than normal. Precip totals were way below normal with a departure of -2.48!" Bridgewater - Notes direct from the PC of Clayton! Precipitation for July was only .86 inches which was 3.17 inches below normal. Last month, the rainfall measured 3.77 inches. There was only one thunderstorm for the month. Last month, we got eight. What a contrast between the two months. It looks as if someone turned the precipitation switch at the beginning of July. There were only four days with the low humidity reading was above fifty. The highest was sixty-six. It's certainly difficult for thunderstorms to form with the atmosphere this dry. The total precipitation for the year is 29.33 inches which is about eight inches above normal. We could use now some of the excessive rainfall that occurred during the spring. The average temperature for July was 2.2 degrees above normal . Most of the months this year have been above normal. If this trend continues, 1998 will end up as a very warm year. The dry weather here in the Shenandoah Valley has become rather serious. The lawns are brown, the gardens are suffering, and the farmers are very concerned. According to the forecasts, very little rain is promised in the near future. Centreville - Paul quips that he's still at 5.3" of total snowfall for the '97-'98 season! (Are his eyes set on the coming winter?!?@?#???&&&!!!?) July saw just slightly over 1/3 of normal rainfall for the month! A boring 0.41" swing (range) in barometer for the month!! On the 22nd, a powerful, sky-blackening thunderstorm swept across the Washington, DC area with wind, rain, and lightning which toppled trees, knocked-out power to tens of thousands of home, and briefly interrupted the season's most intense heat wave. However, this was not so for Centreville where skies became dark, there was a rumble of thunder, a brief gust of fresh air, but not a drop of rain! What a difference between that severe t-storm over DC and Paul's place some 10-20 miles away! Chester - Dave noted an "amazing reversal from wet to dry" at the end of July! Dulles - Dulles International Airport reported an average temp departure of -0.3 deg. (from NWS WBC) Falls Church - July 1998, sayeth Erica, saw below average rainfall and thunderstorm days. The average high was normal but the average low was 2 degrees below normal even with the heat wave the period of July 19-23. Fredericksburg - Very dry here according to Ken with less than 1 inch of rain. This followed 6 consecutive months of at least 4.75"! 8 straight 90 degree days, the 16th through the 23rd, peaking at 99 deg. on the 22nd. There were thunderstorms in the region during the month, but most of their rain missed his site! Hampton - Dave reports a mixture of heat and mild periods during July. The extreme heat periods with high dew points were balanced by pleasant periods throughout the month. Herndon - Russ Topping noted: "Our unusually wet weather came to an end. July rainfall was 2 inches below normal. Our thunderstorm activity ceased completely. A new record high of 98 degrees was set at nearby Dulles Int'l Airport on the 22nd." Lynchburg - The average monthly temp was only 0.9 deg below the norm. The city received a bit less than half the normal amount of rain during July. Newmarket - Joyce reports that she has records back to 1982 and this is the driest July since then. She had 0.38" up to the 31st day and had 0.09" that morning. Newport News - On the 22nd, Gary Leonard recorded an all-time record station July high of 103 degrees and an all-time record low maximum temp of 82 degrees! Norfolk - NWS AKQ notes that the month's mean temp was some 0.8 degree above normal while precip at the airport some 1/2 mile from the Atlantic was 1.15" below normal. Portsmouth - The month ended with temps averaging just 2/10ths of a degree below mean norm temps while precip was 1.66" below normal, or 67%. The mean daily high temps averaged slightly below normal (-0.6 deg.) while the mean daily low temps averaged just slightly above normal (+0.3 deg.). Quite a few station records were established (do not reflect area records established at Norfolk): Minimum station record lows were set on the 13th & 14th with 64 degrees; the 1.56" rainfall was a daily record set for the 16th; maximum low daily temp of 78 degrees was set on the 20th; a max daily wind speed for the 23rd was set at 26 MPH; a minimum record high was set on the 26th with a top reading that day of 79 degrees. Highest temp for the month and the year was set on the 22nd with a 99 degree reading. Richmond - The high temp of 102 degrees on the 22nd is one of the highest ever recorded at Roy Britt's station. In July 1987 and July of 1990, the high reached 101 degrees. His all-time high temp occured in 1983- the first year he established his records - when the temp reached 104 degrees on the 20th and 22nd of August. Richmond - NWS AKQ notes that the month's mean temp was just above normal (+0.03) while precip was well-below normal at -2.66" Mechanicsville - A thunderstorm on the 10th at 1200 LDT with downpours! Roanoke - NWS RNK (Blacksburg) reported a warmer and drier month. The average monthly temp was nearly 2 deg. above normal! Rainfall for the month was the lowest for July in over 20 years! The total was 3.05" below the norm. Roanoke - Wendell notes July was 1.2 degrees above normal (temps) while the month was also very dry. July 1983 with 0.98", 1.01" in 1977, and 1.02" in 1986 were drier than the 1.47" of this July. Stafford - NOTES from Danny: - First month of the year with below normal precipitation, still 18.98" above normal year-to-date - Overall 1.10 degrees F. above normal for month's temperatures - 9 straight days with 90 degree + temperatures from the 16th through the 24th Washington - Dave's Internet weather page is moving again. This time to http://www.runamok.com/weather.htm Weems - Francis reports that the month was dry with records established. (Please note Francis' Winter '98-'99 temperature and precip trends prognostications.) Woodstock - Not only was this the driest July in Lauck's 13 years of record, but it was also the second driest of all months during that time! Only October 1984 at 0.54" was drier. However, the wet spring has reduced the effect on crops, at least so far. Asheville - The average monthly temp, according to NWS GSP, was 2.1 deg. above normal while rainfall was 2.55" below normal. Brevard - July was a strange month, considered unusually hot, yet the mean high, 86.3 deg. F, was exceeded by six of the last eight Julys. The mean low, 64.9 deg. F, was exceeded twice. While I do not have humidity data for the early years, and have not includud humidity in my historic data, humidity at recording time, 2100 hours ET, averaged 85.3% for the month and fell below 80% only four times in 31 recordings, IT FELT HOT! In spite of the high humidity, July was dry, with 2.31" of rain, and only two drier Julys in the past eight years. Much of the rain that we should have had fell to the south in South Carolina. The 51.27" for the year through July is 75% of the annual average for the past eight years, due to the very heavy rainfall during the first three months of 1998. Charlotte - NWS GSP reports CLT had a monthly average temp departure of -0.5 deg. while precip was 0.27" below normal. Greensboro - NWS RDU noted the Piedmont-Triad International Airport area saw temps average 1.8 degrees above normal while rainfall was 0.65" below normal. The daily high minimum temperature record was tied on the 8th with a low of 74 deg. Henderson - The biggest concern about weather here, sayeth George, is with repect to the tobacco crop! This brings in more money to this county than do other crops. So far the crop looks good! (Editor's note: Guess so with over 5" of rain in July, more than what any of the rest of us recorded!) Raleigh - NWS RDU noted the month of July here produced and average temp some 1.4 degrees above normal while precip totals were also above normal, some 0.83" A daily low temperature record was set on the 14th with a low of 60 deg. The daily record high minimum temp was tied on the 16th with a low of 75 deg. Raleigh - Bob Woodson notes that the warm summer there continues with the 3rd consecutive month of above normal temps. Also, just finished the 3rd consecutive month of slightly below normal precipitation. His yard is taking a beating and is "nice-n-brown." Roxboro - July ended drier and hotter than normal. An 11-day heat wave brought temps ranging from 90 to 101 degrees at Merriell's station. Rainfall was about 1.29" below normal. Wilmington - NWS ILM carries this header for its monthly report for July: "...A Very Dry Port City in July..." The total rainfall was a whopping 4.34" below normal and not far from being a "top-ten dry month." No temp records were broken or ties and no daily rainfall records fell or were equaled. The Port City received 62% of possible sunshine. Columbia - NWS CAE noted the average temp was 3 degrees above normal while precip totals were 0.59" below normal. Greenville/Spartanburg - NWS GSP noted that the month of July had an average temp departure of +2.7 degrees. Total rainfall was 1.36" below normal. Ruby - "We had 5.92" of rain but most of it came late in the month. The first part of the month was very hot and dry. This resulted in considerable crop losses in our area." - report from Franklin Hancock Tri-cities - At last, a normal temperature month! NWS Knoxville (TYS) noted the mean temp of 74.4 was perfectly normal! Precip, on the other hand, was 2.35" below normal! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATED MEMBERS' E-MAIL ADDRESSES: (posted by permission) BRE Bob Keehn Bob_Keehn@citcom.net BRI Clayton Towers Ctowers@rica.net POR Bill Trotter wtrotter@whro.org RAL Bob Woodson woods@pipeline.com CEN Paul Bassett III pbassett@digizen.net WSH David Yowell deyowell@mnsinc.com FCH Erica Page erica@erols.com RMD Roy Britt rbritt@erols.com NEW Joyce Winfree joywood@shentel.net FRB Ken McKneely mckneelys@email.msn.com STF Danny Jessee tornado@tidalwave.net WOO Lauck Walton jwalton@shentel.net NPN Gary Leonard garleonard@aol.com -----------------------------------------------------------------------------