JULY NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY

JULY NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY

JULY 2001

1^st-7^th…A cold front sent temperatures plunging Monday from the northern Plains to the East Coast and sparked thunderstorms across the Southeast. Scattered storms also hit parts of the West. Record lows were reported from Iowa to New Jersey as cold air pushed southward behind the front, ushering out hot, humid conditions in many areas. In Michigan, Muskegon had its coldest July morning ever at 39°F and South Bend, IN, had a July record at 42°F. It was 38°F in Lansing, MI, a new record for the day. Along the Gulf Coast, heavy rain and hail hit parts of Texas and showers also fell from Louisiana into Florida. Scattered storms moved across the Plains, Great Lakes region and both the Tennessee and Mississippi valleys. In the West, a monsoonal flow brought thunderstorms to parts of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and Southern California. Most of the Northeast and Pacific Northwest were dry Monday. The Southwest was clear and hot. A storm system dumped heavy rain in the Ohio Valley and rain also fell in the Southeast on Wednesday, while the West was quiet. Steady rains pushed east in advance of a front over the Great Lakes. Ohio, Indiana, northeast Kentucky, and lower West Virginia reported the heaviest rains. The system pushed into western New York later in the day. The rest of the Northeast had partly to mostly cloudy skies. In the South, humid air created haze and cloud cover from the mid-Atlantic through southern Texas. Afternoon showers developed across eastern North Carolina through Georgia, southwest Alabama and southeast Louisiana. Some thunderstorms contained locally heavy rain, gusty winds and lightning. The Plains and Rockies were dry with party cloudy to clear skies. Isolated afternoon showers were reported in central and southern California, Idaho and western and central Montana.

8^th-14^th…Thunderstorms moved across the Southeast on Tuesday, while scattered showers fell across the western third of the nation. Only the southern Plains and Great Lakes region saw clear skies. Heavy rain fell in Alabama, Georgia and Florida, where Key West received more than 1.5 inches. The Western storms were widespread, from Northern California to the foothills outside Denver and from Arizona into the Idaho Rockies. Except for Oregon, most of the West Coast was dry. Strong storms also plowed through the Plains early Tuesday, bringing high wind and rain to southwestern Missouri and Arkansas. A cold front edging into the Northeast brought widely scattered showers from northern England to the Ohio Valley. Storms were expected into Wednesday across the region and into the mid-Atlantic states.

A line of thunderstorms moved into the northern Plains early Wednesday, and warm conditions were forecast across much of the western two-thirds of the nation. In the southern Plains, hot, dry conditions were covered the region from northern Texas through southwest Kansas. Northerly winds kept temperatures cool over the Great Lakes and Northeast.

A stationary front stretching across the Southeast into the southern Plains brought rain and thunderstorms to the Carolinas and Florida on Friday. Arkansas, southeastern Oklahoma, parts of Mississippi and western Kansas were also soaked by heavy rain. Northern and east-central Texas experienced scattered showers. In the Northeast, thunderstorms hit northeastern New York and Vermont. There were mostly cloudy skies in New England. Mainly clear and cloudy skies were also found through the upper Mississippi Valley and northern Mid-Atlantic with similar conditions in much of the Dakotas, Nebraska, western Minnesota and western Iowa. Across the Northwest, scattered rain storms were reported in northeastern Oregon, central Idaho and parts of Montana. Occasional showers continued over Arizona, southern Utah, southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. The Pacific coastline was mostly foggy with dry and cloudy conditions in the interior of California and lower Nevada.

15^th-21^st…Rain and thunderstorms drenched parts of the Plains and Great Lakes states Monday as clouds spread over much of the nation. Rain soaked much of the Dakotas, Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Thunderstorms also touched Iowa, eastern Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and western Tennessee. Showers were expected to push into southern Illinois, western Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi. Skies were fair or partly cloudy over the rest of the Mississippi Valley and Plains states. Clouds also spread over the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and New England, with showers in northern Maine. Rain also fell in parts of Washington, Oregon, northern Idaho and western Montana.

Clouds and stormy, wet weather covered much of the nation Wednesday, with severe conditions concentrated in the Midwest. Heavy rain with gusty winds, hail and lightning fell in Indiana and Illinois. Rockford, Decatur and Peoria, IL, had 30 mph winds and drenching rain. Scattered storms with lighter rain spread through Missouri, Iowa and Kansas north into Wisconsin and Michigan. Heavy rain fell in Tennessee, Virginia and Maryland. The Northeast had cloudy skies, and scattered showers fell in northern New England and New Jersey. The Southeast was mostly dry, but daytime heating brought storms to the Gulf Coast and Carolinas.

The Southwest and Plains were cloudy, with showers in New Mexico and the Dakotas. Scattered showers fell in the Rockies, particularly Montana, as an upper level trough fed moisture from the Pacific Northwest. California was dry and fair.