July 2009: Coolest ever in Midwest
The hits just keep on comin' from our chilly July.
When they added up all the numbers for the nine-state Midwest region it was the coolest July on record.
It was the coldest July on record for Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa; the second coldest on record for Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Wisconsin; the third coldest in Minnesota; and the fourth coldest on record for Missouri. You get the picture. Records for the region date back 114 years.
Check out some of these highlights (lowlites?) from the Midwest Climate Center's report.
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-Louisville, KY averages 12 days of 90 degree temperatures in July, they recorded none. St. Louis, MO normally experiences 16 days with temperatures 90 degrees or above, and recorded only four in July.
-International Falls, MN did not reach 80 degrees, and experienced its coldest July on record with an average temperature of 58.8 degrees. The old was record of 59.4 degrees set in 1992.
Other locations in the Midwest that had a record cold July include:
Madison, WI - average temperature of 65.7 degrees, old record 66.7 degrees in 1891
Grand Rapids, MI - average temperature 67.1 degrees, old record 67.2 degrees in 1992
Cedar Rapids, IA - average temperature 66.2 degrees, old record 69.9 degrees in 2004
Rockford, IL - average temperature 67.0 degrees, old record 69.0 degrees in 1915
South Bend, IN - average temperature 68.3 degrees, old record 68.5 degrees in 1996
Cincinnati, OH - average temperature 70.1 degrees, old record 70.7 degrees in 1947
Frankfort, KY - average temperature 71.5 degrees, old record 75.2 degrees in 1947
As reported here earlier, it wasn't cold everywhere in the USA. Austin and San Antonio, Texas had their warmest month ever. And Tucson, Arizona had the 3rd warmest July on record.
Weekend heat backing off?
The forecast models advertised a substantial pattern change and a big warming trend this weekend. Today's model runs are backing off the heat this weekend and next week. This would be classic for the pattern this summer. As we like to say in the weather business; "the models giveth and the models taketh away."
Stay tuned.
PH