FROM: Bob Weisman

Earth Sciences, St. Cloud State University

August 2001 may have seemed incredibly hot and dry but, just like July, it was not extraordinarily hot and dry. The average temperature at the Saint Cloud Municipal Airport was 70.4 degrees, 3.3 degrees warmer than normal. While August 2001 did tie for the 24th warmest August in the 120 years of Saint Cloud records, August 1995 was actually warmer with an average temperature of 70.6 degrees. Still, only 3 of these warm Augusts have been recorded in the past 17 years.

August 2001 will be best remembered for the heat wave of August 4-8 when the highs broke 90 degrees for 5 straight days. This marked only the 8th August with at least 5 consecutive days of 90 or higher. However, the record for August was 8 consecutive days set in 1930. Also, this marked the 40th time in St. Cloud history that we had at least 5 straight days of 90-degree highs. That averages out to one streak every 3 years. We had heat waves of 5 and 7 days in 1995, but those were the only two in the 1990's. The 5 90-degree highs brought our total for the warm season to 18, well above the average of 10.7 days, but far below the 33 days recorded in 1988, the year of the last major heat wave and drought in the Central U.S.

The only record daily high in August 2001 was the 98 degree high on the 6th. This is only the second record high set this warm season (the other was in May). St. Cloud still hasn't seen a high of at least 100 degrees since July 3, 1990.

The August 4-8 heat wave was also notable for its high humidity. Dew point records are not kept for Saint Cloud since the station has a long history without nighttime readings. However, relatively warm low temperatures are a sign of high humidity. St. Cloud recorded two nights with a low of 70 degrees or higher in August. The total number of warm lows for 2001 is now 7 days, tying for 12th most in St. Cloud history. St. Cloud has had two low temperatures of 75 or warmer in 2001 for only the 8th time on record. Two record warm daily lows were set during August 2001 on the 5th and 6th.

We nearly had one of the ten driest Augusts on record. However, the two rounds of thunderstorms on the 29th raised the August 2001 total to 1.70 inches, more than 2.25 inches below normal, but not one of the ten driest Augusts. In fact, last August, which was the 10th driest on record, was drier as only 1.20 inches of rain fell.

With the end of August, meteorological summer (June 1-August 31) is now complete in Saint Cloud. The summer average temperature was 69.6 degrees, more than 2 degrees above normal. Still, the summer of 1995 was warmer with an average summer temperature of 69.7 degrees. The summer of 1988, the 4th hottest on record, was more than 2 degrees warmer with an average temperature of 72.0 degrees. The low August rainfall continued the dry trend we've seen during the summer months. The total summer rainfall was 6.81 inches, the 10th driest summer on record. The turnaround to the spring wetness happened in mid-June. After picking up rainfall on 15 of the first 21 days of June, we had 19 rainfall days for the rest of the summer, including only 8 days with precipitation in August. Despite the stress shown on many plants from the persistent dry weather since mid-June, the growing season (1 April- 31 August) rainfall is still more than 2 inches above normal in Saint Cloud, thanks to a record April rainfall. Growing season rainfall has fallen to near normal or slightly below generally to our south and west from Kandiyohi, Meeker, and Wright Counties southward to the Minnesota River.

Now for the weird statistics department. Having one of the ten driest summers and one of the ten wettest springs in the same year has only happened twice before. The spring of 1894 was the wettest spring on record and was followed by the 3rd driest summer on record. 1950 ranks as the driest summer on record, but it followed the 9th wettest spring on record. While this may be entertaining for statistics buffs, it still doesn't relieve the stress that the warm and dry summer put on crops and lawns.

AUGUST STATISTICS                 AUG 2001              NORMAL
TEMPERATURE ( F)
Average high temp                  83.6                  79.4
Average low temp                   57.2                  54.8
Average temp                       70.4                  67.1
Warmest high for the month         98 on the 5th and 6th (broke record on 6th)
Coolest high for the month         70 on the 31st
Warmest low for the month          76 on the 5th (broke record; see below)
Coolest low for the month          44 on the 13th      
Records set:
Daily record warm high             98 on the 6th (old record: 
                                                  94 in 1930,1937,1983)   
Daily record warm low              76 on the 5th (old record: 72 in 1947)

Daily average temperature          87 on the 5th (old record: 85 in 1947)
                                   83 on the 6th (old record: 82 in 1930)

PRECIPITATION (IN)
Total for month                   1.70                   3.96
Maximum daily amount              0.70 on the 29th 
Growing seas precip(1 Apr-31 Aug)19.34                  17.19


SUMMER STATISTICS               SUMMER 2001             NORMAL
Avg high temperature ( F)         81.7                   79.8
Avg low temperature ( F)          57.4                   54.9
Average temperature ( F)          69.6                   67.3
Total Precipitation (in)          6.81+                 11.67
2001 days with highs >= 90 deg     18                    10.7
+10th driest summer on record (see below

STATISTICAL TABLES

ST. CLOUD PRECIP--SUMMER    (109 YEARS; AVG = 11.36 IN; SDEV =  3.49 IN)

         WETTEST                           DRIEST

     22.06 IN  1897                      3.51 IN  1950
     19.79 IN  1905                      5.53 IN  1929
     19.43 IN  1952                      5.56 IN  1894
     19.05 IN  1990                      6.38 IN  1910
     17.80 IN  1956                      6.52 IN  1922
     17.53 IN  1951                      6.52 IN  1930
     16.96 IN  1957                      6.62 IN  1893
     16.78 IN  1986                      6.72 IN  1936
     16.33 IN  1955                      6.74 IN  1996
     16.20 IN  1926                      6.81 IN  2001 <- 10th driest

ST. CLOUD PRECIP--SPRING    (109 YEARS; AVG =  6.93 IN; SDEV =  2.73 IN)

         WETTEST                           DRIEST

     16.02 IN  1894                      1.95 IN  1926
     13.65 IN  1965                      2.08 IN  1934
     13.32 IN  2001 <-                   2.26 IN  1967
     12.92 IN  1912                      2.41 IN  1900
     12.49 IN  1938                      2.78 IN  1955
     11.95 IN  1903                      2.86 IN  1980
     11.93 IN  1896                      2.93 IN  1987
     11.56 IN  1991                      3.11 IN  1997
     11.47 IN  1950                      3.57 IN  1925
     11.42 IN  1908                      3.60 IN  1910

CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH HIGH                 AUGUST CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH HIGH
>= 90 DEGREES (SAINT CLOUD: 1896-2001)    >= 90 DEGREES (SAINT CLOUD: 1896-2001)
Dates                  Number of Days      Dates                  Number of Days
15-18 July 1936             14            1-8 Aug 1930                  8  
13-24 July 1901             12            18-24 Aug 1976                7
16-25 June 1910             10            16-21 Aug 1901                6
31 Jul - 8 Aug 1930          9            14-19 Aug 1922                6           
24 Jul - 1 Aug 1935          9            7-11 Aug 1936                 5
15-23 Jul 1964               9            7-11 Aug 1947                 5
19-26 Jun 1911               8            1-5 Aug 1964                  5
14-21 Jul 1932               8            4-8 Aug 2001                  5 <-
2-9 Jul 1948                 8
 4 streaks of 7 days
10 streaks of 6 days
17 streaks of 5 days
Most Recent: 6-12 June 1995; 10-14 July 1995
             4-8 August 2001

(40 Heat Waves on Record)

ANNUAL HIGHS OF >= 90 DEGREES			
SAINT CLOUD: 1896-2001 (Average per year: 10.7)                    
Year               Days
1936                36
1900                34
1988                33
1931                31
1910                29
1933                28
1934                28
1937                26
1901                25
1930                25

2001                18

ANNUAL LOWS OF >= 70 DEGREES			ANNUAL LOWS OF >= 75 DEGREES
SAINT CLOUD: 1896-2001 (Avg: 3.1 days)    SAINT CLOUD: 1896-2001 (Avg: 0.5 days)
Year                Days                  Year              Days
1931                 16                   1931                7
1900                 11                   1901                4
1936                 11                   1936                3
1937                 10                   1898                2
1941                  9                   1905                2
1897                  8                   1916                2
1901                  8                   1964                2
1930                  8                   2001                2 <-
1935                  8
1947                  8                     49 days on record
1955                  8
1932                  7
1933                  7
2001                  7 <-

2001 Record Highs Since May 1: 2(May 15, Aug 6)
2001 Record Warm Lows Since May 1: 3 (June 25, Jul 31, Aug 5)


LAST SAINT CLOUD HIGH OF 100 OR HIGHER: July 3, 1990 (101 degrees)
LAST SAINT CLOUD AUGUST HIGH OF 100+: August 16, 1950 (only 7 August 100+ 
                                                        highs on record)

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