NOUS42 KILM 032302 PNSILM NCZ087-096-097-099>101-SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046-041200- PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 703 PM EDT FRI SEP 3 2010 ...RECORD WARM SUMMER COMES TO AN END... METEOROLOGICAL SUMMER IS DEFINED AS THE TIME PERIOD BETWEEN JUNE 1 AND AUGUST 31. THIS TIME PERIOD ACROSS SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA WAS DEFINED BY PERSISTENT BERMUDA HIGH AND UPPER LEVEL RIDGING. THESE CONTRIBUTED TO HOT CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE MAJORITY OF THE SUMMER...CAUSING ONE OF THE WARMEST SUMMERS ON RECORD AT THE MAJOR CLIMATE STATIONS ACROSS THE AREA. WILMINGTON, NC 2010 STATS AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL: MONTH MAX MIN AVG PRECIP JUN 90.8 73.6 82.2 5.59 JUL 90.3 73.2 81.7 5.34 AUG 90.3 72.5 81.4 2.70 ------------------------------------------- ALL 90.5 73.1 81.8 13.63 DEP +2.3 +2.8 +2.6 -7.93 THE CUMULATIVE MAX, MIN, AND AVG ALL RANK NUMBER ONE ALL TIME AT WILMINGTON. THIS MAKES THE SUMMER OF 2010 THE HOTTEST EVER FROM 137 YEARS OF RECORD! THE NEXT WARMEST AVG OCCURRED IN 1999...WHICH AVERAGED 81.0 DEGREES FOR THE SUMMER...SO 2010 ECLIPSED THIS RECORD BY ALMOST ONE FULL DEGREE! MONTHLY NOTES: THE AVG MAX TEMP WAS GREATER THAN 90 FOR EACH MONTH. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME ON RECORD WHEN ALL 3 MONTHS HAVE AVERAGED A HIGH TEMP GREATER THAN 90. THE AVG MIN TEMP WAS GREATER THAN 72 EACH MONTH. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME ON RECORD WHEN ALL 3 MONTHS AVERAGE MORE THAN 72 FOR THE DAILY MIN TEMP. THE AVG TEMP WAS GREATER THAN 81 FOR EACH MONTH AS WELL. THIS IS ALSO THE FIRST TIME ON RECORD WHEN JUNE, JULY, AND AUGUST HAVE ALL HAD MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPS OF AT LEAST 81 DEGREES. OTHER NOTABLES: DURING THE SUMMER...WILMINGTON HAD 57 DAYS WHERE THE MAX TEMP WAS GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 90 DEGREES. THIS BREAKS THE RECORD FOR NUMBER OF 90 DEGREES DAYS DURING THE SUMMER (56, 1993). THIS IS ALSO 29 DAYS ABOVE THE LONG TERM AVERAGE OF 28 DAYS PER SUMMER. WILMINGTON HAS NOW SEEN 59 DAYS IN 2010 WITH A TEMPERATURE OF 90 DEGREES OR HIGHER...THE RECORD IS 71 SET BACK IN 1980. WILMINGTON ALSO HAD 75 DAYS WHERE THE MIN TEMP WAS GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 70. THIS IS THE 4TH MOST ALL TIME, AND THE MOST SINCE 2003. THE RECORD IS 82 IN 1989. JUST FOR REFERENCE...THAT MEANS ONLY 17 DAYS BETWEEN JUNE 1 AND AUGUST 31 HAD A LOW TEMP BELOW 70. THE AVERAGE FOR ANY SUMMER IS 60 DAYS WITH A MIN TEMP OF 70 OR GREATER. WILMINGTON HAS NOW HAD 77 DAYS IN 2010 WITH A MIN TEMP OF AT LEAST 70...THE RECORD IS 102 SET BACK IN 1881. STREAKS: BETWEEN JULY 13TH AND JULY 30TH...18 DAYS...THE MIN TEMP DID NOT GO BELOW 74 DEGREES. THIS IS THE LONGEST SUCH STREAK ON RECORD AT WILMINGTON. BETWEEN JUNE 10TH AND JUNE 30TH...21 DAYS...THE MIN TEMP DID NOT DROP BELOW 70 DEGREES. THIS IS THE 2ND LONGEST JUNE STREAK ON RECORD (1981). PRECIP: WHILE THE SUMMER WAS VERY HOT...IT WAS ALSO QUITE DRY AT WILMINGTON. THE 13.63 INCHES OF RAIN IS THE 25TH DRIEST FROM 137 YEARS OF RECORD. RECORDS: WILMINGTON SET RECORD HIGHS ON AUGUST 12TH (98), AUGUST 11TH (97), AND JUNE 24TH (98). THE HIGHEST TEMP DURING THE SUMMER WAS 98 ON JUNE 24, JULY 7, AND AUGUST 12. FLORENCE, SC 2010 STATS AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL: MONTH MAX MIN AVG PRECIP JUN 92.1 72.0 82.0 9.26 JUL 91.5 72.8 82.1 6.31 AUG 91.3 72.5 81.9 3.11 ------------------------------------------- ALL 91.6 72.4 82.0 18.79 DEP +1.9 +2.5 +2.2 +3.73 THE 82 DEGREE SUMMER AVERAGE TEMP AT FLORENCE MAKES IT THE 5TH WARMEST SUMMER ALL TIME FROM 63 YEARS OF RECORD. THE RECORD IS 83.1 DEGREES SET IN 1993. THE SUMMER AVG HIGH RANKS AS THE 8TH WARMEST ON RECORD...THE AVG MIN IS THE 2ND HIGHEST EVER...AND THE SUMMER WAS THE 13TH WETTEST ON RECORD AT FLORENCE. MONTHLY NOTES: THE AVG MIN WAS GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 72 ALL 3 MONTHS DURING THE SUMMER AT FLORENCE. THIS MARKS THE FIRST TIME ON RECORD WHEN THIS HAS OCCURRED. THE AVG MONTHLY TEMP WAS GREATER THAN 81 ALL 3 MONTHS AS WELL. THIS IS ONLY THE THIRD TIME ON RECORD WHEN THIS HAS HAPPENED (1975, 1998). OTHER NOTABLES: DURING THE SUMMER...FLORENCE HAD A MAX TEMP OF 90 OR GREATER ON 69 DAYS. THIS IS THE 6TH MOST ALL TIME (RECORD IS 83 IN 1993). THIS IS 19 ABOVE THE AVERAGE OF 50 DURING ANY GIVEN SUMMER. FLORENCE HAS NOW SEEN 80 DAYS IN 2010 WITH A HIGH TEMP OF 90 OR MORE. THE RECORD FOR A YEAR IS 108 SET IN 1954...AND THE ANNUAL AVERAGE IS 63. FLORENCE HAD 76 DAYS DURING THE SUMMER WITH A MIN TEMP OF 70 OR MORE. THIS IS THE 2ND MOST ALL TIME (79, 1975) AND 21 ABOVE THE LONG TERM AVERAGE OF 55 DURING THE SUMMER. THE RECORD FOR A YEAR IS 108 SET IN 1975...AND THE ANNUAL AVERAGE IS 64 DAYS. STREAKS: BETWEEN JULY 10TH AND AUGUST 24TH...A STRING OF 46 DAYS...THE MIN TEMP WAS GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 70 DEGREES. THIS IS THE 3RD LONGEST SUCH STRETCH ON RECORD AT FLORENCE (60 IN 2005, 55 IN 1975). BETWEEN JUNE 10TH AND JUNE 30TH...21 DAYS...THE MIN TEMP DID NOT GO BELOW 70. THIS IS THE 2ND LONGEST SUCH STREAK IN JUNE ON RECORD (1981). IN ADDITION...BETWEEN JULY 16TH AND JULY 30TH...A STRETCH OF 15 DAYS...THE MIN TEMP WAS AT LEAST 74. THIS IS THE LONGEST SUCH STREAK ON RECORD AT FLORENCE. PRECIP: THE VERY HOT SUMMER CONTRIBUTED TO A VERY ACTIVE PIEDMONT TROUGH...WHICH CREATED FREQUENT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE FLORENCE AREA. THIS CAUSED THE 13TH WETTEST SUMMER ON RECORD...AND THE WETTEST SINCE 2005. RECORDS: FLORENCE SET DAILY RAINFALL RECORDS ON JUNE 2ND (3.04), JUNE 18TH (2.07), AND JULY 9TH (2.41). ALTHOUGH NO RECORD MAX TEMPS WERE SET DURING THE SUMMER...THE HOTTEST TEMP AT FLORENCE WAS 98 WHICH OCCURRED ON 4 OCCASIONS. $$ JDW