SUBJECT: Summer rains continue in August St. Cloud August 1997 and summer 1997 weather summaries The drought-easing summer rainfall continued in St. Cloud in August 1997. Exactly 5.80 inches of rain fell, almost 2 inches above normal. There were two days of more than 2 inches of rain (2nd, 19th). The summer overall accounted for more than 3.75 inches of rain above normal. This brought the annual rainfall to above 20 inches, putting St. Cloud above normal for the year. The high amount of cloud cover associated with the rain kept the average high temperature 3.5 degrees below normal, accounting for August's temperatures being cooler than normal. One record cold high was set on the 14th with a high of only 60 and another was set on the 17th with a high of only 62. Overall, the rainy summer made for cooler than normal readings as well. Long range forecast speculation is usually meteorological suicide, but the strong El Nino-Southern Oscillation event in the South Pacific Ocean, which has left the Atlantic hurricane and tropical storm-free in August for the first time since 1961, would indicate a relatively mild winter for Minnesota....if the El Nino doesn't fizzle out before then. AUGUST STATISTICS AUG 1997 NORMAL TEMPERATURE ( F) Average high temp 75.9 79.4 Average low temp 54.6 54.8 Average temp 65.3 67.1 Warmest high for the month 89 on the 1st and 2nd Coolest high for the month 60 on the 14th (record cool high; see below) Warmest low for the month 67 on the 8th Coolest low for the month 44 on the 11th, 18th Records: record cold high: 60 on the 14th (old record: 64 in 1979) record cold high: 62 on the 17th (old record: 66 in 1968,1977) PRECIPITATION (IN) Total for month 5.80 3.96 Maximum daily amount 2.29 on the 19th SUMMER STATISTICS SUMMER 1997 NORMAL Avg high temperature ( F) 78.5 79.8 Avg low temperature ( F) 56.3 54.9 Average temperature ( F) 67.4 68.2 Total Precipitation (in) 15.29 11.44 DAILY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION SUMMARY FOR ST. CLOUD -- AUGUST 1997 (data provided in cooperation with the Minnesota State Climatologist's Office, the University of Minnesota Soil Sciences Department, and the National Weather Service Office in Chanhassen, MN) August, 1997 Preliminary Local Climatological Data St. Cloud, MN National Weather Service |-Temperature-|--------Degree Days---------|-Precipitation-| (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 89 61 75 4 0 50 27 10 295 2 0 0 0.11 2 89 57 73 2 0 50 27 8 303 4 2.21 2.21 0.22 3 83 59 71 1 0 50 27 6 309 5 0 2.21 0.33 4 78 57 68 -1 0 50 26 3 312 3 0 2.21 0.45 5 76 52 64 -5 1 51 26 0 312 -2 0.27 2.48 0.57 6 78 59 69 0 0 51 25 4 316 -3 0 2.48 0.69 7 80 54 67 -2 0 51 24 2 318 -6 0 2.48 0.81 8 81 67 74 5 0 51 23 9 327 -2 0 2.48 0.93 9 75 58 67 -2 0 51 22 2 329 -5 0.05 2.53 1.06 10 68 50 59 -10 6 57 27 0 329 -10 0 2.53 1.19 11 72 44 58 -11 7 64 33 0 329 -15 T 2.53 1.32 12 71 50 61 -7 4 68 36 0 329 -19 0.04 2.57 1.45 13 70 45 58 -10 7 75 42 0 329 -23 0 2.57 1.58 14 60 48 54 -14 11 86 52 0 329 -27 0.29 2.86 1.71 15 82 54 68 0 0 86 51 3 332 -28 0.12 2.98 1.84 16 77 54 66 -1 0 86 49 1 333 -31 0.00 2.98 1.97 17 62 51 57 -10 8 94 55 0 333 -35 0 2.98 2.10 18 68 44 56 -11 9 103 62 0 333 -39 0.07 3.05 2.23 19 61 56 59 -7 6 109 66 0 333 -42 2.29 5.34 2.37 20 70 53 62 -4 3 112 67 0 333 -45 0 5.34 2.51 21 76 51 64 -2 1 113 66 0 333 -48 0 5.34 2.65 22 74 49 62 -4 3 116 67 0 333 -51 0 5.34 2.79 23 81 59 70 4 0 116 65 5 338 -49 0.07 5.41 2.92 24 76 60 68 3 0 116 62 3 341 -49 0 5.41 3.05 25 76 57 67 2 0 116 59 2 343 -50 0 5.41 3.18 26 85 60 73 8 0 116 56 8 351 -45 0 5.41 3.31 27 83 57 70 6 0 116 53 5 356 -42 0 5.41 3.44 28 78 53 66 2 0 116 50 1 357 -43 0.12 5.53 3.57 29 71 60 66 2 0 116 47 1 358 -44 0.27 5.80 3.70 30 80 60 70 7 0 116 43 5 363 -41 T 5.80 3.83 31 83 53 68 5 0 116 39 3 366 -40 0 5.80 3.96 . ============================================================================= 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 Shirley: "Why do you have to go to work, Dad?" Dad: "So I can make money to buy us groceries and buy you clothes and toys." Shirley (pushing Dad out the door): "OK, Dad. You go to work and buy me toys!" =============================================================================
mcwg@soils.umn.edu