Hot & Dry July by the Numbers

The official weather statistics for July have been tabulated and, as expected, the month was much warmer and drier than normal. The highlight of last month was the 103-degree temperature on July 22, which tied the all-time record high for southwestern Connecticut. Just one day later, the mercury soared to 96 degrees during the hottest part of the month.

The daily average temperature for July was 77.6 degrees, which is more than three-and-a-half degrees above the normal average (74) and less than a degree away from the record of 78.4 degrees set in 1994. There were five days which saw temperatures climb above 90 degrees, including July 11 (91 degrees), July 12 (95), and July 30 (91).

All but two of the first 13 days of July were warmer than normal. The hottest stretch happened from July 16 through July 24 when the daily average temperature was above normal for nine consecutive days. All told, there were only six days with cooler-than-normal temperatures, but five of those were just a degree below normal and one (July 25) was just two degrees cooler-than-normal.

Only two inches of rain fell last month, which is slightly better than half the normal rainfall (3.77") for July. There were only eight days with measured precipitation, but only four days with more than two-hundredths of an inch of rain. Two days featured at least a half-inch of rain, including July 26 (0.80") and July 8 (0.50"). The only other day with substantial rain happened July 18 (0.45").

Although August got off to a wild start with strong thunderstorms yesterday afternoon, a quieter day is expected. Today will be mostly sunny, quite warm, and somewhat less humid with afternoon temperatures in the mid-to-upper 80s. Tonight will be partly cloudy and mild with a low near 60. A few scattered showers and possibly a thunderstorm are expected tomorrow with highs in the upper 70s to close to 80 degrees.

Paul