Hard to Complain about the Weather

By Russell Russ

To define great summer weather most people would say warm and sunny. Since July, we have seen much more than our fair share of warm and sunny. Admittedly, the lack of rainfall has been a problem for some, but there have been no huge wildfires in Connecticut, and while we are in drought conditions, it could be worse. Except for a few freak weather events this summer, our Connecticut media personalities seem almost embarrassed that there has been no terrible weather to go on and on about.

The month’s high temperature of 88 degrees was observed on August 18. That was the station’s record high for that date, just beating the old 1935 record of 87. The low of 50 degrees was observed on August 29. The monthly average mean temperature was 68.7 degrees, 2.4 degrees warmer than normal.

August 2015 ties 2012 as our ninth warmest August in the last 84 years. Yes, there were locations in the area that probably hit 90 degrees, but not at the weather station. The station hit a high of 88 just once in July and once in August, so we are below average for the number of days per year that reach 90 degrees or above (typically two to three).

The total precipitation recorded for the month was 1.95 inches, 2.72 inches below normal. It was on the dry side once again, and was our ninth driest August in the last 84 years. There was just one thunderstorm observed at the station this month. The big storms continued to miss Norfolk, which has been the case all summer long. This is a large factor in our low monthly rain totals.

Through August, the total precipitation amount for the year is 27.85 inches. This is 6.73 inches below normal and our largest deficit of the year to date. If this dry weather continues through the fall, we could easily be in the top 10 for driest years on record.

September has continued our stretch of warm and sunny weather. Through two-thirds of the month we are way above average for temperature and nearly three-inches below normal for rainfall. It was 89 degrees on September 8, which made it the warmest day of 2015. One has to think the weather will turn since fall is now upon us. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted this winter will be warmer than normal, but they predicted that for last winter also.

Weather observations are recorded by the Great Mountain Forest at Norfolk’s National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observer Station, Norfolk 2 SW.