Watertown -- Unless you’re living under a rock (and this summer that sounds kind of inviting) you are well aware of this year’s warm, dry summer in Northern New York. This summer we’ve all been talking about burning bans, Crops drying up, low water levels and relentless warm days. Even the woolly Bear Caterpillar, age old prognosticator of winter weather, has traded in its wool for a more breathable poly-cotton blend.
So, how does this summer in the North Country compare to recent years? Is it really that bad?
Let’s crunch some numbers…
According to the City of Watertown’s water filtration plant on Newell St., where records are kept, July’s mean temperature was 73.6 degrees. The warmest day of the month was on July 17th, when we hit a high of 90.5 degrees (It reached 90.4 on July 13th). The lowest temperature was 53.6 degrees on July 20th. On July 26th we received 2.31” of rain, other than that, July was one of the driest on record. Total rainfall for the month of July was 3.08 inches.
July 2012:
Mean temperature: 73.6 degrees
Highest temperature: 90.5 on July 17th
Lowest temperature: 53.6 on July 20th
Rainfall: 3.08”
July 2011:
Mean temperature: 73.5 degrees
Highest temperature: 92.1 degrees on July 21st
Lowest temperature: 54.4 on July 14th
Rainfall: 2.23”
July 2010:
Mean temperature: 73.1 degrees
Highest temperature: 91.5 degrees on July 8th
Lowest temperature: 50.6 degrees on July 2nd
Rainfall: 4.67”
July 2009:
Mean temperature: 67.3 degrees
Highest temperature: 85.8 degrees on July 28th
Lowest temperature: 52.2 degrees on July 9th
Rainfall: 4.05”
July 2008:
Mean temperature: 70.7
Highest temperature: 88.1 degrees on July 8th
Lowest temperature: 50.6 degrees on July 4th
Rainfall: 5.58”
June 2012:
Mean temperature: 67.7 degrees
Highest temperature: 90 degrees on June 11th
Lowest temperature: 45 degrees on June 4th and 5th
Rainfall: 3.28”
June 2011:
Mean temperature: 66.4 degrees
Highest temperature: 87 degrees on June 8th
Lowest temperature:47.8 degrees on June 3rd
Rainfall: 3.38”
June 2010:
Mean temperature: 65.3 degrees
Highest temperature: 83 degrees on June 19th
Lowest temperature: 47 degrees on June 7th
Rainfall: 5.50”
June 2009:
Mean temperature: 63.5 degrees
Highest temperature: 86.1 degrees on June 24th
Lowest temperature: 39.5 degrees on June 1st
Rainfall: 1.52”
June 2008:
Mean temperature: 67.7
Highest temperature: 89.7 degrees on June 9th
Lowest temperature: 51 degrees on June 2nd
Rainfall: 3.85”
Here is even more grist for the Global Warming debate mill, Federal Scientists recently reported that the first seven months of 2012 have been the hottest on record in the United States. The average temperature for the Lower 48 in July was 77.6 degrees. That breaks the old record from July 1936, during America’s “Dust Bowl”, by two-tenths of a degree.
Local forecasters are predicting this pattern to hold for a while longer so expect to keep the swimming pool opened a little bit later this year and don’t even think about putting the Barbecue Grill away yet…you might be able to cook Thanksgiving dinner on it.
