Thread on remarkable July weather stats in #StateCollege #pawx

For starters, July was the hottest month on record (mean temp = 77.0º), bumping July 1955 (76.5º) out of the top spot.

July 2020 was also the 5th driest July on record (1.38")

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As is often the case, the warmth in #StateCollege #pawx was slanted a bit toward daily min temperatures, but daytime max temps ran really high, too.

July avg. max temp = 86.6º (6th highest on record)
July avg. min temp = 67.5º (highest on record by almost 1º over 7/2012)

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The crazy thing (I think) is that #StateCollege #pawx notched its hottest month on record without a single daily record high or daily record warm low.

Highest temp during July was 93º (twice), which is no big deal historically. #pawx

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So, it was the persistence of the heat that made it a record-breaking month in #StateCollege #pawx. We did it on the back of a lot of days in the upper 80s and low 90s

Temperatures exceeded 85º on 20 days during the month, which ties July 1955 for the record in any month

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The same can be said for daily min temps in #StateCollege #pawx: Minimum temps remained above 65º on a whopping 24 days during July.

That's way more than any previous month (previous record: 19, which occurred 3 times). But, the highest Tmin was 73º (and no daily records)

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The fact that this hot July was also dry is not a coincidence. With dry ground, more of the sun's energy goes to heating (and less is used on evaporation). Most of the top 10 hottest months in #StateCollege #pawx had near or below avg rainfall.

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Also, remember that July 2018 was the wettest July on record in #StateCollege #pawx, with 9.37".

So, within a 2-year period, we had our wettest July, and a top-5 driest July.

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Finally, a couple of sensible weather analogs to keep an eye on. After the other top-10 hottest Julys in #StateCollege #pawx, 4 of them were followed by top-10 wettest Augusts. The others were at least near average precip. None were very dry.

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The list of other top-10 hottest months in #StateCollege #pawx includes several years that ended up having high-impact tropical cyclones in the Mid-Atlantic:

1955: Connie & Diane
1999: Floyd
2011: One-two punch from Irene and TS Lee
2012: Sandy (which the Euro nailed)

(fin)