NATIONAL WEATHER SUMMARY

AUGUST 2024

July 28-Aug. 3: Expanding and intensifying heat gripped much of the country, increasing stress on rangeland, pastures, and summer crops in areas lacking sufficient soil moisture. Some of the most significant burgeoning crop stress affected the Plains, where isolated thunderstorms provided only localized relief from triple-digit (100-degree) temperatures extending as far north as Montana and the western Dakotas. Farther east, however, the Midwest continued to experience a summer largely without heat stress, as temperatures above 95°F were limited to far western corn and soybean production areas. Additionally, scattered to widespread Midwestern showers and thunderstorms maintained mostly adequate soil moisture for normal corn and soybean development. Meanwhile, the South got a short reprieve from hot weather, along with ongoing widespread showers east of the Mississippi River.

Elsewhere, a Western break from extreme heat was short-lived, with record-setting high temperatures returning during the second half of the week. However, the fleeting cool spell allowed firefighters to work on containment efforts for some of the largest Western wildfires, including the 402,000 acre Park Fire near Chico, CA, which has destroyed more than 600 structures. Near- or above-normal temperatures covered much of the country, although weekly readings were close to normal levels in much of California, the Great Basin, and the Intermountain West, along with the western Gulf Coast region and the Southeast. In contrast, temperatures averaged at least 5°F above normal across much of the nation’s mid-section, including large sections of the Plains and northern Corn Belt, as well as much of the Northeast and scattered Northwestern locations. In the waning days of July, extreme heat was focused on the Plains. In Texas, Dalhart closed the month with four consecutive daily-record highs (103, 106, 105, and 106°F). Similarly, Borger, TX, tallied a trio of daily-record highs (106, 106, and 108°F) from July 29-31. On the central Plains, record-setting highs for July 30 included 111°F in Hill City, KS, and 102°F in Burlington, CO. That marked Hill City’s highest reading since July 10, 2022, when it was also 111°F. Thereafter, record-setting heat expanded into other areas, including parts of the East and much of the West. Baltimore (BWI Airport), MD, noted consecutive daily-record highs (101 and 100°F, respectively) on August 1 and 2—the seventh and eighth triple-digit days of 2024. Baltimore’s previous annual standard of 7 triple-digit days had been achieved in 1930, 1988, and 2010. Additional Eastern daily-record highs on August 1 included 100°F in Newark, NJ, and 99°F in Punta Gorda, FL. Meanwhile, August began with a pair of daily-record highs in Western locations such as Redmond, OR (103 and 105°F), and Winnemucca, NV (104 and 108°F). Other record setting highs for August 2 reached 111°F in Lewiston, ID, and 108°F in Glasgow, MT. Glasgow’s reading also tied its monthly record, most recently attained on August 6, 1983. At week’s end, heat made a strong push across northern and central sections of the Rockies and Plains, with consecutive daily-record highs being set on August 2-3 in Rapid City, SD (103°F both days); Helena, MT (101 and 103°F); and Lander, WY (97 and 100°F). In Nebraska, daily-record highs for August 3 soared to 106°F in Chadron and 105°F in Valentine. Heat also returned across the Desert Southwest, where Phoenix, AZ, logged consecutive daily-record highs of 116°F on August 3-4. With a burned acreage of more than 400,000 acres, the Park Fire near Chico, CA, became the fourth-largest wildfire in modern California history, behind only the 1.03 million-acre August Complex (2020), the 963,000-acre Dixie Fire (2021), and the 459,000-acre Mendocino Complex (2018). The Park Fire was also responsible for the destruction of more than 600 structures.

4-10: Hurricane Debby made landfall around daybreak on August 5 in Florida’s Big Bend; drifted across northern Florida and eastern Georgia before moving offshore; and made a final landfall (as a tropical storm) on August 8 northeast of Charleston, SC. Thereafter, the former hurricane accelerated northward, but still managed to trigger flash flooding as far north as New York. Farther south, rainfall totals of 8 to 16 inches or more resulted in extensive lowland flooding near Tampa Bay and from northeastern Florida into the eastern Carolinas.

Elsewhere, hot, dry weather prevailed in the Far West, including much of the Great Basin and the Pacific Coast States. The nation’s year-to date wildfire acreage topped 5.2 million (about 125 percent of the 10-year average), paced by recent and ongoing activity in northern California and the Northwest. Weekly temperatures averaged more than 5°F above normal in many locations west of the Rockies. In contrast, readings averaged at least 5°F below normal throughout the northern and central Plains and upper Midwest. As the week began, heat gripped much of the western half of the country. On August 4, triple-digit, daily-record highs soared to 105°F in Scottsbluff, NE, and 102°F in Denver, CO. In the Desert Southwest, Phoenix, AZ, collected consecutive daily-record highs of 116°F on August 3-4. Similarly, Las Vegas, NV, posted a pair of daily-record highs (113 and 114°F, respectively) on August 5-6. Elsewhere in the West, triple-digit, daily record highs for August 5 included 102°F in Grand Junction, CO, and 101°F in Spanish Fork, UT. In fact, Spanish Fork also tallied daily record highs on August 6 and 7, with respective highs reaching 102 and 101°F. Salt Lake City, UT, with a high of 104°F on the 6th, logged its third-highest August temperature of the 21st century, behind a pair of 105-degree readings on August 1 and 2, 2020. On August 7, temperatures topped the 110-degree mark as far north as California’s San Joaquin Valley, where daily-record highs climbed to 111°F in Bakersfield, Hanford, and Madera. Amarillo, TX, tied a monthly record— originally set on August 3, 2012—with a high of 107°F on August 7. However, during the second half of the week, lingering extreme heat retreated into the Deep South and parts of the West. By August 8, daily record highs in Texas included 109°F in Del Rio and 104°F in El Paso. Vero Beach, FL, notched a daily-record high of 96°F on August 9. Farther north, daily-record lows in South Dakota on August 9 included 44°F in Pierre and 47°F in Rapid City. On August 10, the week ended with daily-record lows in locations such as Ottumwa, IA (49°F); Quincy, IL (52°F); and Kansas City, MO (53°F).

11-17: At week’s end, showers associated with a cold front overspread the Pacific Northwest, boosting topsoil moisture and aiding wildfire containment efforts. Still, more than 50 active Western wildfires were in various stages of containment, with those fires accounting for 2.2 of 5.4 million year to-date burned acres across the country.

much of the western U.S. getting a reprieve from elevated temperatures, weekly readings averaged as much as 5°F below normal in scattered locations across the Pacific Northwest. Similar temperatures (up to 5°F below normal) affected the western Corn Belt. In contrast, broiling temperatures returned across the south-central U.S., with weekly readings averaging at least 5°F above normal in much of southern New Mexico, southwestern Oklahoma, northwestern half of Texas. and the Cool weather was already in place across the Midwest as the week began, when Dubuque, IA, posted a daily-record low of 48°F on August 11. In contrast, heat persisted across the Deep South. In Florida, for example, record-setting highs for August 13 included 98°F in Apalachicola and 97°F in Punta Gorda. With a high of 99°F, Apalachicola set another record on August 14. Elsewhere near the Gulf Coast on the 14th, daily-record highs soared to 101°F in Mobile, AL, and 98°F in Gulfport, MS. High temperatures in Gulfport reached exactly 100°F on August 2, 6, 7, and 18. Until August 2023, when there were 7 days of triple-digit heat, the total of 4 days with highs of 100°F or greater would have tied Gulfport’s August record, set in 1924 and 2010. Meanwhile in southern Florida, record-setting highs for August 15 rose to 98°F in Miami and 96°F in Key West. Miami’s reading also tied a monthly record, most recently attained on August 1, 1990. The only time Miami’s temperature topped 98°F was July 21, 1942, when a reading of 100°F occurred. Late in the week, heat persisted in the Deep South and intensified in Texas. On August 16-17, Baton Rouge, LA, collected consecutive daily-record highs (99 and 100°F, respectively). El Paso, TX, also closed with week with consecutive daily-record highs, reaching 105°F on both August 16 and 17. Elsewhere in Texas, record-setting highs for August 16 climbed to 107°F in Childress and 106°F in Borger. In Abilene, TX, where rainfall during the 67-day period from June 12 – August 17 totaled just 0.20 inch, temperatures have reached 100°F or higher each day during August, except the 9th. Del Rio, TX, last remained below the 100-degree mark on July 27.

18-24: Much of the country experienced dry weather, but stressed rangeland, pastures with readings averaging more than 5°F below normal from the eastern Corn Belt into the middle Atlantic States, and in portions of the Pacific Coast States and western Nevada. There were some exceptions to the dry pattern, with heavy showers dotting the Southwest and the northern and central Plains. A Northwestern spell of cool, showery weather aided wildfire containment efforts, more than four dozen large fires remained active.

Among wildfires with less than 50 percent containment, the 196,000-acre Remington Fire—which started in Sheridan County, WY, on August 22 before crossing into southeastern Montana—became the nation’s largest active incident. Meanwhile, record-shattering heat prevailed for much of the week in the south-central U.S. In Texas, where heat peaked around the middle of the week, an all-time station record was set with an August 21 high of 113°F in Abilene. Elsewhere in Texas, monthly records were set or tied on August 22 in locations such as Del Rio (113°F); San Angelo (112°F); Borger (109°F); and Amarillo (108°F). Earlier, daily-record highs had soared to 111°F on the 18th in Oklahoma locations such as Gage and Lawton. A daily record was also set in Lawton on August 19, with a high of 112°F. In Kansas, Dodge City noted daily-record highs of 106°F on August 18 and 24. Similarly, Medicine Lodge, KS, posted daily-record highs on August 18 and 24, with respective readings of 110 and 115°F. Pending confirmation, the 115-degree reading in Medicine Lodge will become the highest reading of the 21st century to date in that location, supplanting 114°F on July 9, 2011. Heat extended to other areas, including Florida, where Melbourne collected consecutive daily-record highs (96 and 97°F, respectively) on August 19-20. In New Mexico, Roswell reached the 100-degree mark each day from August 11-25, paced by daily-record highs of 106°F on the 21st and 23rd. At week’s end, expanding heat led to a daily-record high (102°F on August 24) in Rapid City, SD.

On August 22, daily-record low temperatures dipped to the 50-degree mark or below in Illinois locations such as Carbondale (47°F), and Springfield (50°F). In parched West Virginia, Parkersburg (45, 46, and 49°F) recorded a trio of sub-50°F minima from August 21-23. On the 23rd, temperatures fell below the 60 degree mark as far south as Georgia, where daily-record lows included 57°F in Augusta and 59°F in Macon.

 

25-31: Weekly temperatures averaged at least 5°F below normal in parts of the northern Great Basin and northern Intermountain West. Conversely, heat briefly shifting into the Midwest broadly propelled temperatures 5 to 10°F above normal, hastening crop maturation in drier areas of the eastern Corn Belt. As the week began, record-setting heat lingered across the central and southern Plains. On August 25, daily-record highs soared to 106°F in Dodge City, KS, and Borger, TX. A day later, however, heat surging into the Midwest led to record-setting highs for August 26 in Waterloo, IA (98°F), and La Crosse, WI (97°F). In West Virginia, Parkersburg shifted from reporting daily-record lows (45, 46, and 49°F) on August 21-23, to daily-record highs (96, 98, and 99°F) on August 25, 26, and 28. Heat also gripped the South, where consecutive daily-record highs occurred on August 27-28 in Greenwood, MS (102 and 103°F), and Monroe, LA (101 and 103°F). Greenwood attained readings of 100°F or higher each day from August 25-29. Selected triple-digit, daily-record highs included 102°F (on August 27) in St. Louis, MO, and 101°F (on August 28) in Washington, DC. From August 28-30, Chattanooga, TN, tallied a trio of triple-digit readings (100, 101, and 100°F), achieving a record each day. Other daily-record highs for August 29 reached 102°F in Nashville, TN, and Louisville, KY; 101°F in Paducah, KY, and Evansville, IN; and 100°F in Charleston, WV. From August 24-30, Indianapolis, IN, recorded its first 7-day streak with highs of 90°F or greater since July 3-9, 2020. It was also the latest such streak in Indianapolis since September 2-8, 2015. Late in the week, lingering heat retreated into the Deep South, while chilly air overspread the Northwest. By August 31, daily-record highs included 98°F in Montgomery, AL, and 97°F in Tallahassee, FL. In contrast, daily-record lows appeared in Washington by August 28, when daily-record lows dipped to 37°F in Yakima and 43°F in Pasco. In Wyoming, Casper notched a pair of daily-record lows (36 and 34°F, respectively) on August 29-30. 

 

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