NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY

JULY 2022

3-9:  Important, well-timed rainfall across Southeast, Midwest, and northern Plains stabilized or improved conditions for summer crops, some of which moved into the reproductive stage of development.

 

10-16:  Showers and thunderstorms rotating around the periphery of a sprawling ridge of high pressure resulted in locally heavy totals, mainly across the Great Lakes States and the Southeast. In Georgia, for example, daily-record amounts included 3.72 inches (on July 14) in Savannah and 2.79 inches (on July 10) in Augusta. A few showers even extended westward into Texas, although any benefit of the rain was at least partially offset by high temperatures. Still, Dalhart, TX, netted a daily-record sum (1.11 inches) on July 11. The Four Corners States experienced monsoon-related scattered showers, with Grand Junction, CO, collected a daily-record total (0.72 inch) on July 15. Late in the week, shower activity became more widespread across the upper Midwest. In Iowa, daily-record totals for July 15 reached 2.88 inches in Decorah and 2.08 inches in Dubuque. La Crosse, WI (1.46 inches), also measured a record-setting amount for July 15. However, some of the Northern thunderstorms also included large hail and damaging winds. On July 16, for example, a thunderstorm-induced wind gust to 89 mph was recorded in Broken Bow, NE. Earlier, on the 10th, a gust to 75 mph had been clocked in Rapid City, SD. In Montana, high winds—including a gust to 70 mph—occurred in Jordan on July 13, followed 2 days later by a dust storm in Big Horn County. The July 15 dust storm, near the community of Hardin, MT, resulted in six fatalities on Interstate 90.

 

17-23: Widespread, meaningful rainfall was scarce across the western and central U.S., with significant totals largely limited to the eastern one-third of the country. However, timely rain fell in much of the eastern Corn Belt, with beneficial showers extending into the Southeast. Elsewhere, a lull in the monsoon circulation accompanied the Southwestern heat, while several wildfires flared amid hot, dry conditions from California to the northern Rockies.

 

heavy showers peppered the Southeast and lower Midwest. Record-setting rainfall totals for July 17 included 2.64 inches in Dayton, OH, and 1.49 inches in Evansville, IN. On the same date in Florida, daily-record totals reached 2.64 inches in Daytona Beach and 2.59 inches in Sanford. By July 18, showers swept into the Northeast, resulting in daily-record amounts in Allentown, PA (1.52 inches), and Bangor, ME (1.19 inches). Rain in Maine lingered into July 19, when Caribou netted 1.50 inches—a record-setting amount for the date. Meanwhile in the Southwest, monsoon-related showers produced dailyrecord totals for July 18 in Las Vegas, NV (0.17 inch), and Anaheim, CA (0.02 inch). Some thunderstorms became severe; in Montana, for example, peak wind gusts on July 18 were clocked to 77 mph in Cut Bank and 74 mph in Great Falls. During the second half of the week, thunderstorms were commonly observed in the North and Southeast. Daily-record totals for July 21 reached 2.38 inches in Meridian, MS, and 1.29 inches in Anniston, AL. In the Carolinas, record-setting totals for the 22nd included 2.93 inches in North Myrtle Beach, SC, and 2.36 inches in Fayetteville, NC. Across the North on July 23, daily-record rainfall totaled 3.09 inches in Rochester, MN; 1.53 inches in South Bend, IN; and 1.41 inches in Grand Forks, ND. On the same date, thunderstorm-related wind gusts reached 76 mph in Tekamah, NE; 66 mph in Lamar, CO; and 59 mph in Mason City, IA.

 

24-30: In late July, catastrophic flooding struck the upper Kentucky River basin in eastern Kentucky, resulting in at least three dozen fatalities, with many more individuals still missing. Kentucky’s flooding occurred shortly after significant flooding hit St. Louis, MO, and neighboring communities, on July 25-26, when at least 6 to 12 inches of rain fell. Those two hard-hit areas were part of a broad band of locally heavy showers stretching from the Four Corners States to the middle Atlantic Coast, as moisture associated with the Southwestern monsoon circulation was squeezed between a ridge of high pressure over the Deep South and several cold fronts crossing the northern Plains, Midwest, and Northeast.

 

Early in the week, isolated heavy showers swept across the North. Recordsetting totals for July 24 reached 2.22 inches in East Rapid City, SD, and 1.50 inches in Billings, MT. Meanwhile, a cold front crossing the East sparked some heavy rain, including a daily-record sum (3.15 inches on July 25) in Atlantic City, NJ. Meanwhile, torrential rain erupted across the middle Mississippi Valley. July 26 was the wettest day on record in St. Louis, MO, where 8.64 inches fell. Previously, the wettest day in St. Louis had occurred on August 20, 1915, when the remnants of a Gulf hurricane dropped 6.85 inches. Soon, heavy rain also erupted across eastern Kentucky, where Jackson received 8.22 inches of rain from July 25-28. On July 28 in Whitesburg, KY, the North Fork Kentucky River rose more than 10 feet above flood stage before the gauge was knocked off-line, eclipsing the January 1957 high-water mark by more than 6 feet. Farther downstream, the same river crested at a record-high level (14.47 feet above flood stage) in Jackson, edging the February 1939 mark by 0.37 foot. Periodic heavy showers continued for the remainder of the week, but gradually shifted southward. Daily-record ranged from 2 to 4 inches or more in several locations, including Tuscaloosa, AL (4.33 inches on July 30), and Jonesboro, AR (3.26 inches on July 29). Elsewhere, heavy showers peppered the Southwest, while wildfires flared in the Northwest. In Utah, 24-hour totals on July 25-26 reached 1.08 inches in New Harmony and 0.74 inch in St. George.

Jim G. Munley, jr.
http://www.jimmunleywx.com