SUBJECT: Wet enough for you?
St. Cloud July 1997 Weather Summary from St Cloud State University
July 1997 eased the two year dry spell with a vengenance. The monthly
rainfall total of 6.89 inches was more than twice the normal July rainfall
and was the wettest July since 1986 (7.53 inches). July 1997 was also the
third wettest month during the 1990's, only trailing the 10.52 inches of
June 1990 and the 7.35 inches in August 1995. There were 4 days with over
an inch of rainfall, including the 1.98 inches on July 19. Local rainfall
was variable across the immediate area, since 2.25 inches were recorded
on July 25th on the campus of St. Cloud State University, while only 1.50
inches were received at the St. Cloud Airport (official site).
St. Cloud was close to picking up a lot more rain in July. Several
storms went just to the south, most notably on the 17th when Minneapolis/
St. Paul International Airport received 3.71 inches of rain, while St.
Cloud picked up just .01 inches. For the month, Minneapolis/St. Paul
had its 2nd rainiest July on record, picking up 12.60 inches of rain.
The cause of the wet weather was a tendency for the front, marking
the boundary between mild Canadian air and hot, tropical air, to remain
either within the state of Minnesota or just to the south. This type of
weather pattern favors heavy rainfall along and just to the north of
such a front and central and southern Minnesota spent most of the month
in prime position for this heavy rainfall.
The high humidity of July 1997 led to near normal overall temperatures
with a below normal average high and an above normal average low. The
cooler highs were a result of the reduction in sunshine due to clouds and
rain. The warmer lows were caused by the high humidity and frequent clouds,
both of which prevent the air from cooling as efficiently at night.
Still one record cold high was set on the 7th when the temperature only
reached 62 and another record cold high was tied on the 8th.
JULY STATISTICS JULY 1997 NORMAL
TEMPERATURE ( F)
Average high temp 78.2 82.6
Average low temp 59.4 57.6
Average temp 68.8 70.1
Hottest high temp for the month 91 on the 16th,17th
Coolest high temp for the month 62 on the 7th (RECORD--SEE BELOW)
Warmest low temp for the month 71 on the 12th
Coolest low temp for the month 43 on the 7th
Records:
Record cold highs: new record 62 on the 7th (old record: 66 in 1922, 1969)
tied record 65 on the 8th (record set in 1958)
PRECIPITATION (IN)
Total for month 6.89 3.11
Maximum daily amount 1.98 on the 19th
ST. CLOUD PRECIP--JULY (105 YEARS; AVG = 3.42 IN; SDEV = 2.05 IN)
WETTEST DRIEST
12.81 IN 1897 0.21 IN 1975
10.53 IN 1903 0.51 IN 1894
9.49 IN 1913 0.59 IN 1967
8.00 IN 1955 0.63 IN 1910
7.53 IN 1986 0.75 IN 1920
7.26 IN 1972 0.86 IN 1922
6.89 IN 1997 <-- 7TH WETTEST 0.90 IN 1914
6.20 IN 1962 IN HISTORY 0.94 IN 1936
5.93 IN 1949 1.21 IN 1979
5.87 IN 1904 1.23 IN 1941
JULY 1997 DAILY WEATHER TABLE
DATA IN THIS SUMMARY PROVIDED IN COOPERATION WITH:
THE MINNESOTA STATE CLIMATOLOGIST OFFICE
THE SOIL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-ST PAUL CAMPUS
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA
July, 1997
Preliminary Local Climatological Data
St. Cloud, MN
National Weather Service
|-Temperature-|--------Degree Days---------|-Precipitation-|-Snowfall-|----Wind----|
(degrees F) (base 65 degrees F) (inches)
Heating Cooling
Max Min Avg Dep HDD Seas Dep CDD Seas Dep Tot Tot Norm
from for for for for
Norm Seas Seas Mon Mon
Date | | | | | | | | | | | | |
1 87 64 76 7 0 0 -1 11 124 13 1.25 1.25 0.13
2 70 57 64 -5 1 1 -1 0 124 8 0.02 1.27 0.25
3 64 53 59 -13 6 6 6 0 177 -24 0.11 3.06 0.37
4 74 50 62 -7 3 13 9 0 124 -2 0.04 1.40 0.49
5 74 49 62 -7 3 16 11 0 124 -7 T 1.40 0.60
6 67 45 56 -14 9 25 19 0 124 -13 0 1.40 0.71
7 62 43 53 -17 12 37 30 0 124 -19 1.03 2.43 0.82
8 65 54 60 -10 5 42 34 0 124 -25 0 2.43 0.92
9 74 48 61 -9 4 46 37 0 124 -31 0 2.43 1.02
10 78 54 66 -4 0 46 36 1 125 -36 0 2.43 1.12
11 85 64 75 5 0 46 35 10 135 -32 0 2.43 1.22
12 85 71 78 8 0 46 34 13 148 -25 0.03 2.46 1.32
13 89 68 79 9 0 46 33 14 162 -17 0.16 2.62 1.42
14 80 63 72 2 0 46 32 7 169 -16 0.01 2.63 1.51
15 90 62 76 6 0 46 31 11 180 -11 0 2.63 1.60
16 91 68 80 10 0 46 30 15 195 -2 0 2.63 1.69
17 91 66 79 9 0 46 29 14 209 6 0.01 2.64 1.78
18 84 65 75 5 0 46 28 10 219 10 T 2.64 1.87
19 73 65 69 -1 0 46 27 4 223 8 1.98 4.62 1.96
20 82 65 74 4 0 46 26 9 232 11 0.14 4.76 2.05
21 75 61 68 -2 0 46 25 3 235 8 T 4.76 2.14
22 66 59 63 -7 2 48 26 0 235 2 0.61 5.37 2.23
23 77 63 70 0 0 48 25 5 240 1 0.02 5.39 2.32
24 76 64 70 -1 0 48 25 5 245 0 T 5.39 2.41
25 85 69 77 6 0 48 25 12 257 6 1.50 6.89 2.50
26 88 68 78 7 0 48 25 13 270 13 0 6.89 2.60
27 84 66 75 4 0 48 25 10 280 17 0 6.89 2.70
28 78 58 68 -3 0 48 25 3 283 14 0 6.89 2.80
29 78 54 66 -5 0 48 25 1 284 9 0 6.89 2.90
30 79 53 66 -5 0 48 25 1 285 4 0 6.89 3.00
31 73 53 63 -8 2 50 27 0 285 -2 T 6.89 3.11
.
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Bob Weisman, Professor/Meteorologist SUPERVISOR: Shirley (age 5)
Earth Sciences Department PHONE: (320) 255-3247
MS 48 FAX: (320) 255-4262
Saint Cloud State University EMAIL: scsweisman@stcloudstate.edu
720 4th Avenue South (new address)
Saint Cloud, Minnesota 56301-4498
"Ten years of college education, three degrees, and you still don't have
a drop of common sense."
-My Grandmother (to guess who)
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