The last half of summer was a dry one and according to IEM estimates of statewide averaged precipitation, the driest since 1984 for the period from 1 July to 24 September. Some rain is in the forecast today before another stretch of dry weather begins lasting into next week.

Voting:
Good = 20
Bad = 5

Tags:   2011   summer  

Yesterday was a very pleasant day with highs in the low 80s and comfortable humidities with dew points in the 50s. The featured chart presents the frequency of having a dew point temperature below 60 when the afternoon high temperature was above 80. You can see the frequency declines as we get deeper into summer and the humid air becomes unavoidable!

Voting:
Good = 13
Bad = 8

Tags:   humidity   summer  

The featured chart presents the number of days during the meteorological summer (June - August) that either the high or low temperature were above average. The average used was the current standard climate (1971-2000). For 2010, 74 out of the 92 days were above average for low temperature which is easily the largest value on this chart for low temperature. The colors represent if the value was above 46 or below. The 1930s stand out for being warm while the 1960s for being cool.

Voting:
Good = 48
Bad = 12

Tags:   2010   summer  

The featured chart is the yearly maximum stretch of days where the high temperature was 80+ °F for Ames. So far this year, we have seen a stretch of 13 days while all of 2008 only experienced an 11 day period. In general, the longest stretches were prior to the 1960s with 1936 having a 70 day period! Our forecast has highs in the 80s, but barely 80 for the weekend.

Voting:
Good = 18
Bad = 1

Tags:   summer  

Maybe a feature about summer would help us to think warm thoughts and hopefully look forward to summer! The featured chart displays the number of days between the first and last occurance of 90+ degree temperature in Iowa. 2008 comes in as the second shortest season with only 100 days. Again, 1993 shows up prominently with 2008 in a chart. Of course, 90 degree temperatures are not in the immediate forecast, but let us hope for any number above freezing!

Voting:
Good = 32
Bad = 17

Tags:   2008   summer  

The featured chart is a histogram of the percentage of years that a 75+ degree dew point was observed per day since 1973. The frequency is roughly 1 in every 5 years during the summer with July having the most days.

Voting:
Good = 17
Bad = 11

Tags:   summer   dewpoint