Summer Seasonal Summary (June 1 through August 31): Meteorological Summer finished wetter than normal across the majority of the area, with several locations placing in the top 10 wettest summers on record. This included Evansville, Cape Girardeau, and Paducah which finished 6th, 6th, and 7th wettest respectively. Poplar Bluff, MO finished with 19.95”, becoming their 3rd wettest summer on record. Some of the higher totals in our area included 21.62” at the Fairfield, IL COOP and 20.21” at the Stendal, IN COOP station. A few locations in southern Illinois, including portions of Perry and Franklin Counties, observed near to slightly drier than normal conditions.
Temperatures for the season finished near normal. None of the months stood out as being much above or below normal. Although generally June was the coolest month compared to normal (averaged 0.5 to 2 degrees below) and July was the warmest (averaged 1 degree above). The most intense stretch of heat and humidity occurred from July 18-21 when heat index readings above 105 were common. We also had a very comfortable stretch of weather from June 10-14, with very low humidity levels by summer standards. This included lows dipping into the 50s on a routine basis, and even a few upper 40s on June 14th.
After a relatively quiet spring severe weather season, it ramped up quickly in June. In fact, we issued 150 combined warnings (Severe thunderstorm, Tornado, and Flash Flood) in June which was the most in any month since April 2011 and the most in June since 1998. After a fairly average July (41 combined warnings), we had an active August with 49 warnings issued. This was the most in August since 2005. In total, we issued 240 combined warnings across our 58 county forecast area this summer, which was the most on record during a summer season since our office inception in 1995. The previous record was 224 in summer 1998.
The graphic below is an interpolated rainfall map using actual observations. Please note that there are likely discrepancies in between observations, since the values are estimated based on nearest reports.
| Summer Season 2019 Review: Precipitation and Temperature Maps (Click on image to enlarge) |
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| Climate Maps are from the Northeast Regional Climate Center |
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