FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John Leslie 301-713-2087, ext. 174
Aug. 8, 2008
NOAA: U.S. Temperature Above Normal in July
July 2008 was the 30th warmest July for the contiguous United States, based on records dating back to 1895, according to an analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The average July temperature—74.9 degrees F—was 0.7 degrees above the 20th century mean, based on preliminary data.
U.S. Temperature Highlights
- July temperatures were generally higher than average across the West and Northeast and below average in the Midwest.
- Five states (Conn., Mass., N.J., R.I. and Utah) were much warmer than average. Rhode Island had its sixth warmest July, and Massachusetts and Utah both had their eighth warmest July, based on statewide data going back to 1895. Six states (Ill., Ind., Ky., Mo., N.M. and W.Va.) were cooler than average.
- Based on NOAA’s Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index, contiguous U.S. temperature-related energy demand was approximately three percent above average in July.
U.S. Precipitation Highlights
- An average of 2.90 inches of precipitation fell across the contiguous United States in July, which is near the 20th century average of 2.76 inches.
- Seven states (Ill., Mass., Mo., N.H., N.Y., R.I. and Vt.) were much wetter than average, with Vermont having its third wettest July on record. Massachusetts and New Hampshire had their fifth wettest July.
- Idaho and Louisiana were much drier than average, with Idaho having its sixth driest July on record and Louisiana its seventh driest July.
- The lack of significant rainfall across the Southeast had little impact on drought conditions. At the end of July, 59 percent of the region was classified in moderate-to-exceptional drought, based on the U.S. Drought Monitor. For the contiguous U.S., about 28 percent of the nation was in moderate to exceptional drought.
Midwest Flooding
- Heavy rains fell across parts of the Midwest again in July, continuing a trend that began last October. An area from central Iowa through northeastern Missouri and western Illinois accumulated more than twice the normal July rainfall. At Long Branch Reservoir in north central Missouri, 18.64 inches fell – more than three times the normal amount. The heavy rains triggered widespread flash flooding in Missouri and Iowa. Mark Twain Lake in Missouri reached a record of 640.36 feet above mean sea level on July 30. Illinois and Missouri had their wettest January to July on record.
Wildfires
- Continued dry conditions in July across northern and central California hindered efforts to contain a dozen large wildfires. Large fires also developed last month in other states, including Texas, Oklahoma, and North Carolina. From January 1st to July 31st, 53,796 wildfires have burned more than 3.5 million acres of the United States, according to statistics from the National Interagency Fire Center. This activity is close to the 1999-2008 average and well below the year-to-date extent of the past two years.
Other Events
- A rare EF-2 tornado struck in New Hampshire on July 24 and claimed one life and injured several others.
- Hurricane Bertha formed in the tropical Atlantic on July 3, and while not making landfall, was the longest-lived, pre-August Atlantic tropical cyclone on record. It became extratropical on July 20. The same day, Hurricane Dolly developed in the Caribbean Sea and made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane at South Padre Island, Texas on July 22. Dolly is the most intense tropical cyclone to make U.S. landfall since Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
- Heavy rain from Tropical Storm Dolly brought relief from drought across parts of the Southwest and in southern Texas. However, up to eight inches of rain fell within 36 hours over parts of southern New Mexico, resulting in many flash floods, which claimed one life, and brought total property damage estimates of around $1.5 billion.
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.
On the Web:
NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov
NCDC July 2008 analysis: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2008/jul/jul08.html
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Err….is this the right room for an argument!!
Well lets see where to begin…
I suppose first here in Omaha, we spent a whopping 4 whole hours at or above 100 degrees this year, and most days have been hovering near or below the average temp posted (I remember using my heater in May a few times). We had a rare F2 tornado in Omaha as well (they don’t usually hit inside the city, this one walked down the road about a half a mile from my house). We have had cloud cover most of the summer.
I remember tward the beginning of the year I read that this was going to be oe of the worst years yet. I didn’t think so. There is a reason. We are currently in one of the largest solar activity minimums in some time. If you want to see some startiling numbers compare the solar activity graph with the global temp one. (Dont forget to remember that heating and cooling a large body like the earth will take some time to accomplish so it doesn’t change instantly). I pose this to you which is more likely to warm the earth, the sun who’s mere presence can raise temperatures 20 to 30 degrees in a few hours, or CO2 which as a gas is a fraction of the earths atmosphere (Oh and dont forget how much CO2 is currently sitting bottled up on shelves in the form of your favorite soft drink, beer etc and yes an individual bottle will be drunk and gas released, but it will be replaced so a stable amount of co2 is being trapped now that wasn’t at the start of the century)
I recomend a BBC production called “The Global Warming Swindle” for any interested. Even one of the original members of Greenpeace has come to realize this.
Ohh and as for the sun, we are expected to remain at near zero levels untill December so my prediction is for another cold and wet winter.
Ohh yeah one other thing, if man is actually providing some imputus to global warming, why is it that we continuously hear the statement “we need to reduce burning of greenhouse producing coal, oil, etc.” emphasising the CO2, when we should be more concerned with the word BURNING, does that word not imply releasing heat, are we not talking about warming? seems like these would go more hand in hand than a guess that we are trapping heat more, it still gets plenty cold arround here in the winter when the suns rays are not as direct (yep just the angle of inciddence of the suns rays can swing a climate 70 degrees or more in a few months)
“Why are you trying to scare people into believing your deluded conspiracy theory, take a note out of Anthony’s book; drop the scare tactics and stick to the truth……and stop trying to destroy those trilobites..the truth is out!!”
This is global warming cultist’s mantra….that it’s “case closed”, global warming is here and caused by man. No further room for debate or conjecture and any contradictory scientific information or thesis should not tolerated and should be expunged from the record.
It’s also certainly out of the realm of possibility that government organizations (NOAA, Envirnment Canada) might twist the truth to the unwashed masses to serve their own purposes. Can’t imagine that scenario playing out in our society. I’ll just crawl back into my neo-con hole – where I crush trilobite fossils that I run across and in the same breath deny both global warming and the holocaust.
David Predham- “This is global warming cultist’s mantra….that it’s “case closed”, global warming is here and caused by man. No further room for debate or conjecture and any contradictory scientific information or thesis should not tolerated and should be expunged from the record.”
I pity you if you believe this hogwash. Good science is based on debate and testing the hypothesis and no scientist would say “Case closed”. Your last paragraph seems to contradict what you have previosly been telling us, could you kindly remove the foam from your mouth and try and argue your point coherently or,to put it kindly “Put up or shut up!”.
Not to worry, Mary. It’s the 8th warmest summer this millenium!
I know it’s late in this post but i just saw on accuweather ,global warming, site where july was the 4th warmest since 1880.Now since i’ve been educated by Anthony here at watts up with that about missing weather temp data all over the U.S. I wonder how much data was there with this report since they are bias towards global warming?