Another warm and wet month

By Russell Russ

July was a warm and wet month, just like last July. It was hot, humid and very rainy, but
fortunately nowhere near as wet as last July. During the first 17 days of the month, all but three
recorded temperatures in the 80’s, many in the mid to upper 80’s. Even with no temperatures of
90 degrees or above, as of July 17, this July was ranking as the warmest month on record for
Norfolk. It was also well on its way to becoming very highly ranked for rainfall. Of the last 23
years, there have been 15 that have ranked in the top 10 for warmest Julys. Even the Icebox of
Connecticut gets hot in July. Although there were no record setting daily temperatures, but it
was consistently warm and humid for most of the month.

July’s low temperature of 50 degrees was observed on July 2 and the high of 89 degrees was
observed on July 15. The average monthly mean temperature of 71.7 degrees was 3.4 degrees
above normal and even 0.2 degree above the monthly temperature for July 2023. This July tied
with July 1935 and 2006 as Norfolk’s fifth warmest July and sixth warmest of any month over
the last 93 years. The warmest July (and warmest of any month) was in 2020 with 73.1 degrees.
The coolest July was in 1962 with 63.9 degrees.

The total precipitation recorded for the month was 7.69 inches, 3.36 inches above normal. It
ranks as Norfolk’s 11th wettest July on record. The greatest daily total of 2.31 inches came from
the evening of July 17 to early morning of July 18. There were seven thunderstorms observed at
the weather station in July. The rainfall from July 2023 totaled 15.53 inches, which was the
wettest July on record. Norfolk’s driest July was in 1939 with 1.29 inches.

Through July, Norfolk’s yearly precipitation total was 36.16 inches. Norfolk’s yearly precipitation
surplus through July was 6.41 inches. We are good in the rain department. What is needed now
is a dry period, but with hurricane season looming, a dry period might be hard to get.

An early look at August’s weather through the third week showed a continuation of our humid
and wet weather conditions. It was humid on many days, but temperatures were running just a
little above normal. We are trending lower for temperatures now as we have passed the
midpoint of August. By Aug. 21, there were eight mornings in the 50’s. That day also saw a low
of 47 degrees. These cooler mornings, as we typically see in late August, will bring the average
down to a more normal level. Rainfall was a little above normal, yet another month that will
come in above normal for rainfall. As typically happens later in August in Norfolk and other
northwestern Connecticut “hill towns,” some trees are beginning to show a little color. Autumn is
on its way.

Weather Station Update
As reported in last month’s weather summary, the electronic weather station owned and
operated by Great Mountain Forest was beginning to fail. In early August, the station stopped
working for good. Official observation data for the National Weather Service has not been
affected. The good news is that the electronic station will soon be replaced. The hope is to have
a new station up and running sometime in September so that our weather data will be transmitted to the world once again. The primary site to see this data will be on Weather Underground. Look for Great Mountain Forest, Norfolk, CT, station KCTNORFO2. Stay tuned!

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