by Barney Leach
July 2022 rainfall fell far short of normal with only 0.31 inch of rain. We had only two days with measurable rainfall of 0.15 inch on July 2 and 0.16 inch on July 14. Normal rainfall through July is 2.62 inches. July 2022 has been our driest July since 2015 which produced only 0.19 inch of rain.
Total rainfall for the year stands at 14.06 inches. Normal through July is 27.35 inch which puts us at 49 percent below normal for the year. Current drought conditions are similar to what we experienced in 2011 when we received only 0.18 inch of rain in July and none in August.
Our record wettest July was 8.89 inches of rain in 2007. Record driest July was 0.02 inch of rain in 1997.
Temperature-wise, July was extremely hot with 26 triple-digit temperature days and an average daily high of 102 degrees. Our hottest days was 108 degrees on July 9 near our record hottest days of 110 degrees in September 2006 and 114 degrees in July 2018. Our lowest temperature was 73 degrees on July 1 and 15.
Looking ahead to August: August is normally our driest month of the year at 2.37 inches of rain and our second hottest month by about one degree behind July. Our hottest time of the year normally falls around August 6 which is the mid-point of summer. For the ten-year period from 1997 to 2006, temperatures peaked on August 5 and 6 at 98 degrees. That was on an average and Mother Nature sometimes does not follow the averages.
Our record wettest August was 9.25 of rain in 2008. The driest August was no rain at all in 2011 and 2019.
