Topic:  Cold and Wet July 

Let's give credit to the National Climate Prediction Center which
released a summer outlook in the middle of June suggesting that
our weather pattern would remain cooler than normal, but following
a very dry spring, shift to wetter than normal for the balance of
the summer.  Indeed we have.  Nearly two thirds of our weekly 
climate observers reported over an inch of rainfall during the
first week of July, and approximately 25 percent of the observers
reported over 2 inches.  

The first week of July was also one of the coldest in state history.
Listed below are the mean temperatures for the 4 coldest July
weeks in the Twin Cities climate record (1891-1997)....

July 2-8, 1972  60.4 degrees F
July 1-7, 1967  60.9 degrees F
July 2-8, 1967  61.3 degrees F
July 2-8, 1997  61.7 degrees F

The mean weekly temperature for this period of July is 72.2 degrees,
so all of these averaged at least 10 degrees colder than normal.

In addition, International Falls, MN recorded a low temperature 
of 34 degrees F on July 7th this week, the coldest July temperature
in their history.  On the same morning, the observer 3 miles south 
of Tower, MN recorded a low temperature of 24 degrees F, tying the 
state record for the lowest temperature in July set at Remer (Cass
County) on July 22, 1985.

Mark Seeley
Professor and Extension Climatologist
Department of Soil, Water, and Climate
University of Minnesota
St Paul, MN  55108

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