Norfolk’s August Weather

By Russell Russ

August weather in Norfolk was very summer-like and full of warm, sunny days. Could it have been too warm and sunny? It entered the record books as Norfolk’s warmest August ever and the fifth warmest of any month in the last 91 years. It was also Norfolk’s fifth driest August and might have moved up in those rankings had it not been for the few rain showers in the second half of the month. These rankings are impressive, like it or not.

August’s high temperature of 91 degrees on Aug. 4 was the hottest day of 2022 to date. The low temperature of 50 degrees was observed on Aug. 13 and 14. The record-setting monthly mean temperature of 71.8 degrees was 5.4 degrees above normal, surpassing August 2001’s 71.0 degree average. Two August days had highs of 90 degrees or above, bringing the summer total to three days, which is about average for Norfolk. Daily record highs were set or tied on Aug. 6, 7 and 8. What seemed to make the difference this year were higher-than-usual nighttime lows that brought the daily average up. The coolest August on record was in 1964, with 61.5 degrees.   

The total precipitation recorded for the month was 1.37 inches, 3.23 inches below normal. A thunderstorm on Aug. 23 and a little rain on the last day of the month made all the difference in the rainfall ranking. This summer’s low rainfall was completely opposite to last year’s overly-wet totals. August rainfall was hit-or-miss across the state. Some towns had impressive totals, while others did not get much, not uncommon unless there is a hurricane or tropical storm in play. The reigning champion of wet months is still August 1955, the infamous flood of ’55, with 23.67 inches. Norfolk’s driest August, and fifth driest month overall, was in 1953 with just 0.65 inch. 

Through August, the total annual precipitation was 27.53 inches, 6.82 inches below normal. The summer months of June, July and August were 7.10 inches below normal and through August we are 12.25 inches below last year’s total. On the bright side, we are 3.02 inches above 2020’s rainfall totals.  

September started off warmer than normal, but cloudier than previous months. The clouds and more unsettled weather brought much-needed rainfall to the area. Through Sept. 21, the hurricane season was off to a slow start, with several storms that did not come anywhere near the east coast. Weather patterns make all the difference and the patterns changed in September. By the third week of the month, Norfolk was already 0.25 inch above normal for rainfall. These were again hit-or-miss storms, but this time we got some hits. Foliage had begun its seasonal change earlier this year due to the dry summer. It is time to bring forth some classic beautiful fall weather.

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