Summer 2013 a Normal One, but Wet in Detroit

The final statistics are in for the Summer of 2013, and it turns out that this summer was quite the normal one. After a relatively cool start, the bulk of the warmth came in a couple of episodes in mid-to-late July and again in late August, with a cool period in middle during August that featured multiple days of average temperatures around 10 degrees below normal. Nonetheless, despite much talk regarding the "cool" nature of this year's summer, all three Southeast Michigan climate sites finished slightly warmer than normal. So, why did this summer seem to so many to be so cool? Have recent summers just been that hot? See for yourself in the table below. On the right side of the table, you can see how this year's summer ranks compared to the last three summers, all three of which have been among the area's hottest on record.

Average temperature and comparison to recent years

Summer 2013	Average Temperature (Departure from Normal)	Summer Normal*	Summer 2013	Summer 2012	Summer 2011	Summer 2010
Detroit Area	71.9 (+1.1)	70.8	36th warmest	T-1st	T-5th	T-5th
Flint Area	70.5 (+1.1)	69.4	25th warmest	13th	T-10th	T-7th
Tri-Cities	69.7 (+0.7)	69.0	36th warmest	T-4th	11th	T-4th

*Summer Normals are computed based on each site's period of record, which is different than the 1981-2010 period used to compute individual monthly statistics

Boosted by a wet June during which it received over 6" of rain and over 2" of thunderstorm rainfall on August 29th, Detroit remains one of the wettest locations in all of Michigan this summer. The bulk of the state remains near to slightly above average, with the exception of a region of below normal rainfall in Northern Lower.

Summer 2013	Total Rainfall (Departure from Normal)	Normal	Summer 2013
Detroit Area	16.13" (+6.24")	9.89"	3rd wettest
Flint Area	8.83" (-.74")	9.57"	45th wettest
Tri-Cities	6.53" (-2.34")	8.87"	27th driest

Last update: September 1, 2013