Summer 2009 climate recap

Most Mid-Southerners are aware that the weather during the summer months in this region varied widely, from a very hot June with a strong mid-summer storm thrown in mid-month, to a much cooler than normal July and August with two metro-area tornadoes on July 30. Precipitation ranged from very wet in July to below normal in August. So how did it average out? The maps below show the "departure from normal temperature" for June 1- August 31, as well as the "percent of normal precipitation" for the same period. Click the images for larger views.
One the temperature side, the Northern and part of the Central Plains and the Great Lakes regions experienced a very cool summer, with much of the Northeast also averaging somewhat below normal. Here in the Mid-South, the extremes of June and July ended up averaging out to about a degree below normal, though portions of northeast Arkansas were 2-3 degrees below normal.


As for precipitation, the Northeast was wet, along with parts of the Midwest, while southern Texas (which is still in a significant drought) and the Gulf Coast were below normal. Examining the Mid-South, the anomalously high precipitation amounts over northeast Arkansas explain the below normal temps, but most of the region was above normal for the summer.

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August: another cool summer month + accuracy stats

After a considerably cool July, August ended up also being cooler than average, though precipitation was also below normal (versus July when it was well above normal). Following are climate summaries for Memphis and Bartlett, TN.

Memphis International Airport, Memphis, TN
At the airport, the average temperature was 79.9 degrees, which was 1.3 degrees below normal. The highest temperature for the month was 94 degrees set on the 4th and 15th and the lowest was 61 on the 31st. A total of 16 July days saw highs at or above 90 degrees. No temperature records were set in August.


Though August is typically a fairly dry month, only 1.21" of rain was recorded for the month, which was over 7" less than in July and much less than the average of 3.00". There were 6 days with measurable rainfall recorded but only 3 days with more than a tenth of an inch. The peak wind gust was 47 mph, recorded on the 10th. Click here for the NWS climate recap for August.


Bartlett, TN
WXLIVE! also recorded a cool and somewhat dry month. The average temperature for August was 77.5 degrees, with a max of 94.9 on the 4th and a min of 57.0 degrees on the 24th, one of 4 days near the end of the month that dropped into the upper 50s. Precipitation totaled 2.23" for the month, one inch more than at the airport. The peak wind gust was 28 mph on the 5th. Click here for the MWN recap.

MWN Forecast Accuracy
The MWN Forecast turned in its month impressive month of 2009 in August with an average temperature error of just 1.60 degrees for all forecasts, besting the computer models and the National Weather Service once again. Accuracy statistics can be found here.

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