Climate | Ceaseless Wind

50th Ninety-Degree Plus Day

Meteorologist Ted Keller posted this in Climate on August 31st, 2010

With Monday’s high of 92, Springfield recorded the fiftieth high of ninety-degrees or higher this year! And more may be coming.

The table shows the 30 year normal number of days of 90 plus heat by month.

Month	Normal # Days Max ≥ 90°F	Actual 2010
June	6.1	11
July	16.5	17
August	14.8	22(30th)

We are still looking like summer (June-August) 2010 will rank in the top ten, somewhere around 6th hottest.

Climate

Hot Summer 2010

Meteorologist Ted Keller posted this in Climate, Extreme Weather, The Ozarks on August 24th, 2010

Despite some cooler days toward the end of August, summer 2010 in the Ozarks will rank in the top ten.

Using the latest temperature projections though the end of the month, the average August temperature will end up around 79.8 degrees. When when combined with the June and July stats, summer 2010 would rank around 6th hottest. (preliminary, see table below)

Number of days ninety or higher, 1970-1999 average and 2010 actual.

Month	Normal # Days Max ≥ 90°F	Actual 2010
June	6.1	11
July	16.5	17
August	14.8	18(23rd)

Warmest Summers Report – Springfield, MO
Summer Avg Temp	Year
82.1	1936
81.9	1934
81.3	1954
80.7	1980
79.9	1901
79.3	2006
79.3	1952
79.1	1953
78.9	2005
78.7	1938

Climate

A Bit Parched

Meteorologist Ted Keller posted this in Climate, The Ozarks on August 22nd, 2010

Precipitation Departure from Normal Past 90 Days

Much of the Ozarks is in a long-term dry condition.

Areas which are not as dry are closer to central Missouri and had the benefit of generous (or excessive) May rainfall. You can review those rain episodes here.

The bootheel and northeastern Arkansas are actually classified as being in a moderate drought and this includes Oregon County.

There doesn’t appear to be any wet patterns developing soon.

September is a month when rains come back a bit, at least according to the 30 year normal. In fact, it is our second wettest month in the 30 year normal table at 4.83″.

Precipitation by Month: 1971-2000 Normals

Month	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN
Precip (in)	2.11	2.28	3.82	4.31	4.57	5.02

Month	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC	ANN
Precip (in)	3.56	3.37	4.83	3.47	4.46	3.17	44.97

Climate

Ahh, A Shift in the Wind!

Meteorologist Ted Keller posted this in Climate, Forecast Discussion on August 16th, 2010

Hot First Half of August

The long awaited shift toward cooler temperatures has begun! This ”less hot” snap will last a bit longer than others in recent memory.

The graph shows our high temperature plot for the first fifteen days of the month. It includes five 99 degree highs, two triple digit highs and a record high of 101 this past Friday.

The cooler air is here because the jet stream has changed. An area of cooler air aloft is settling into the northern Great Plains. This is pushing out the area of hot air which has persisted over the central and southern U.S. most of the month.

Flow of air around the cool air aloft is nudging at surface air which is cooler and drier over Canada and dragging it southward in the form of bubbles of high pressure.

This pattern is expected to hold through Wednesday. By the weekend, it looks as if the high air aloft will begin to build back into the area.

Climate

Hot Streaks This Summer

Meteorologist Ted Keller posted this in Climate, Extreme Weather on August 11th, 2010

We have had several memorable runs of ninety-degree heat this summer!

The first was in June from the 16-23rd. The warmest in this stretch was 93.

The heat set in again from July 14-24. This time the hottest was 95 on the 18th.

With a very short break, another hot run went from July 28 – August 4th and again from August 8th through yesterday. And of course, it is a near certainty that we will be in the ninties through Friday and probably Saturday too. With these latest hot weather days, 100 was reached once and 99 was the high four times!

This month is much different than August of 2009 which was cool and somewhat wet. We will be in store for some cooler temperatures starting Sunday, part of a pattern change which may last much of next week.

Climate

More than Just “Hit & Miss” Dry

Meteorologist Ted Keller posted this in Climate, The Ozarks on August 3rd, 2010

Drought Monitor for Missouri

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a portion of the Ozarks is in abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions.

Summer is notorious for “hit and miss” storms which rarely put rain down fairly or evenly. But a more long term dry condition has been identified for the area colored in on the inserted map.

Areas of Webster, Wright, Douglas, Ozark, Dent, Howell and Shannon Counties are abnormally dry while Oregon County and areas east are in a moderate drought.

A precipitation deficit for this area for the last 90 days shows up over the mild drought area with nearly normal precipitation elsewhere. The rainfall deficit for the area can actually be traced back even further than 90 days.

One way to wipe out these summer mini-drought regions is through tropical storm remnants although the rain pendulum often swings too far the other way in these cases!