PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1018 AM CDT SAT AUG 1 2009 ...JULY 2009 - MORE HEAT...MORE TEMPERATURE RECORDS... ...SUMMER OF 2009 IS NOW THE WARMEST IN CITY OF HOUSTON WEATHER HISTORY... ...CITY OF HOUSTON SUFFERS DRIEST MAY THROUGH JULY... A PERSISTENT UPPER LEVEL RIDGE CONTINUED TO EXERT CONSIDERABLE INFLUENCE OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS DURING THE MONTH OF JULY. THE RIDGE SHIFTED SLIGHTLY WEST DURING THE MIDDLE PART OF THE MONTH AND THIS ALLOWED A WEAK UPPER LEVEL TROUGH TO RETROGRADE INTO EAST TEXAS. SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES AND SOME SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED IN THE WAKE OF THE UPPER TROUGH. RAINFALL WAS STILL BELOW NORMAL FOR MOST LOCATIONS. BUT COMPARED TO THE PALTRY AMOUNTS THAT FELL IN MAY AND JUNE...RAINFALL IN JULY WAS DOWNRIGHT TROPICAL. THE MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES FOR JULY WERE BETWEEN 2.5 AND 4.5 DEGREES WARMER THAN THE 30 YEAR CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMALS. RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES PLAGUED THE REGION DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF JULY BUT AS THE RIDGE SHIFTED WEST...HIGH TEMPERATURES BEGAN TO MODERATE BELOW RECORD LEVELS. INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND SLIGHTLY STRONGER WIND SPEEDS DID NOT ALLOW FOR MUCH COOLING OVERNIGHT. IT WAS THE OPPRESSIVE OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES...BARELY FALLING BELOW 80 DEGREES...THAT FUELED THE RECORD MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE. JULY 2009 WAS THE WARMEST JULY IN RECORDED HISTORY FOR COLLEGE STATION AND HOUSTON HOBBY AIRPORT. THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAD IT`S SECOND WARMEST JULY ON RECORD...FALLING JUST SHORT OF JULY 1980 DUE TO RAIN COOLED TEMPERATURES ON THE LAST DAY OF THE MONTH. GALVESTON TIED IT`S FOURTH WARMEST JULY ON RECORD. FIVE WARMEST JULY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES HOUSTON COLLEGE GALVESTON HOUSTON STATION HOBBY 87.5 1980 89.1 2009 87.4 1875 86.7 2009 87.4 2009 88.6 1998 86.6 1996 86.6 1998 86.6 1998 87.9 1996 86.3 1876 86.1 1980 86.6 1957 87.7 1925 86.2 2009 85.4 1957 86.5 1892 87.5 1980 86.2 1871 85.3 1997 FIVE WARMEST JULY AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMPERATURES HOUSTON COLLEGE STATION 78.3 IN 1963 77.5 IN 2009 77.9 IN 2009 76.8 IN 1902 77.8 IN 1962 76.0 IN 1998 77.7 IN 1964 75.6 IN 1996 77.4 IN 1958 75.5 IN 1995 THE AVERAGE JULY TEMPERATURE AT COLLEGE STATION AND HOUSTON HOBBY AIRPORT ARE NOW THE WARMEST AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURES EVER RECORDED FOR ANY MONTH AT ANY TIME. IN OTHER WORDS...THERE HAS NOT BEEN A MONTH WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE THAT WAS WARMER THAN WHAT JUST OCCURRED AT EITHER COLLEGE STATION OR HOUSTON HOBBY. THE SUMMER OF 2009...THUS FAR DEFINED AS JUNE AND JULY IS NOW THE WARMEST JUNE/JULY COMBINATION IN HOUSTON WEATHER HISTORY. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE TWO MONTH PERIOD WAS 86.5 DEGREES. THE PREVIOUS WARMEST JUNE/JULY WAS THE OVEN LIKE SUMMER OF 1980...LONG CONSIDERED THE BENCHMARK FOR OPPRESSIVE SUMMER HEAT. LOOKING FURTHER BACK...IT IS ALSO THE WARMEST MAY-JULY COMBINATION IN CITY HISTORY. THE 2009 MAY-JULY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 83.8 DEGREES. THE PREVIOUS WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THIS PERIOD WAS 83.6 DEGREES IN 1998. CITY OF HOUSTON WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURES JUNE/JULY MAY-JULY JAN-JULY 86.5 2009 83.7 2009 71.8 1911 86.3 1980 83.6 1998 71.4 1890 86.1 1998 83.3 1980 71.3 1962 86.1 1906 82.6 1906 71.2 1953 84.8 1958 82.5 1962 71.1 1957 84.7 2008 71.1 2009 COLLEGE STATION WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURES JUNE/JULY MAY-JULY JAN-JULY 87.7 1998 84.9 1998 71.3 1911 87.6 2009 84.4 1996 70.8 2009 87.0 1925 84.2 2009 70.7 1925 86.1 1934 83.8 1925 70.2 2000 85.8 1996 82.6 1934 70.1 1916 85.5 2008 82.5 2008 70.1 2006 GALVESTON WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURES JUNE/JULY MAY-JULY JAN-JULY 86.3 1875 83.6 1875 72.5 2000 85.4 2005 83.1 2009 72.2 2006 85.3 2009 82.9 1996 72.1 1882 85.1 1881 82.8 2008 72.0 1999 84.8 2008 82.6 1881 71.6 2009 71.6 2008 AS NOTED EARLIER...RAINFALL RETURNED TO THE AREA BUT MOST AREAS RECEIVED LESS THAN NORMAL VALUES. A FEW LUCKY SPOTS...ESPECIALLY OVER THE NORTHEAST PORTION OF THE REGION RECEIVED HEAVY RAINFALL. THE AREA STILL SUFFERS FROM EXTREME TO EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS ESPECIALLY OVER THE FAR WEST AND SOUTHWEST PORTIONS OF THE AREA. HOUSTON IS ENDURING ITS DRIEST MAY THROUGH JULY IN RECORDED HISTORY. BELOW IS A TABLE WITH THE FIVE DRIEST MAY THROUGH JULY RAINFALL TOTALS: MAY THROUGH JULY RAINFALL HOUSTON COLLEGE GALVESTON HOUSTON STATION HOBBY 3.49 2009 0.84 1998 1.95 1956 3.86 1934 4.37 1931 1.74 1934 2.38 1958 4.71 1998 4.56 1998 3.49 1988 2.42 1897 4.79 1931 4.58 1932 3.83 2009 2.57 1948 5.67 2009 4.70 1915 3.94 1963 3.01 1930 5.69 1932 3.18 2008 3.23 2009 MAY-JUL NORMAL 13.68 10.76 11.19 16.31 MAY-JUL 2009 DEP -10.19 -6.93 -7.96 -10.64 BELOW IS A TABLE WITH THE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL DATA FOR THE PRIMARY AND SUPPLEMENTAL CLIMATE SITES ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS: SITE AVG AVG AVG DEP RAIN DEP HIGH LOW MONTH IAH 96.8 77.9 87.4 +3.8 2.84 -0.34 HOU 96.1 77.4 86.7 +2.2 3.62 -0.74 CLL 100.7 77.5 89.1 +4.5 2.42 +0.50 GLS 91.9 80.6 86.2 +1.9 2.72 -0.73 PSX 91.8 81.3 86.5 +3.1 TRACE -3.99 UTS 98.1 76.6 87.4 +3.8 2.60 -0.07 CXO 96.6 74.1 85.4 +1.9 2.46 -0.78 DWH 96.7 75.1 85.9 +3.0 1.58 -2.48# SGR 99.1 76.5 87.8 +4.5 0.96 -3.34 LVJ 94.7 75.6 85.2 +2.6 4.20 -0.88# LBX 94.8 75.3 85.0 +3.8 2.73 -1.04 HGX 93.8 76.0 84.9 +2.6 4.31 +1.08# # 15 YEAR AVERAGES HERE IS MORE TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL DATA PROVIDED BY OUR NETWORK OF CO-OP OBSERVERS. LOCATION AVERAGE AVERAGE HIGHEST RAINFALL HIGH LOW TEMPERATURE ALVIN 92.6 74.3 97 3.14 ANAHUAC 92.1 74.6 95 3.66 BAYTOWN 94.2 78.4 101 2.58 BELLVILLE 100.2 74.5 105 0.28 BRENHAM 99.5 74.9 104 1.00 CLEVELAND 95.2 72.5 99 1.72 COLUMBUS 99.8 75.3 104 0.70 CROCKETT 100.7 74.8 108 2.26 DACUS 3.52 DANEVANG 96.5 74.4 99 0.82 FREEPORT 92.1 79.1 95 3.59 HOU WESTBURY 2.60 LIVINGSTON 97.7 75.8 102 6.91 MATAGORDA 89.3 78.7 92 0.92 RICHMOND 0.84 SOMERVILLE 102.7 72.3 107 0.73 WASH ST PARK 100.4 73.4 104 0.72 WEST COLUMBIA 3.29 && RECORDS: HOUSTON INTERCONTINENTAL AIRPORT RECORD HIGH NEW RECORD PREVIOUS RECORD JULY 3 100 DEGREES 100 DEGREES IN 1980 (TIED) JULY 4 101 DEGREES 100 DEGREES IN 1970 JULY 5 102 DEGREES 99 DEGREES IN 2005 RECORD HIGH MINIMUM JULY 4 81 DEGREES 80 DEGREES IN 2005 JULY 5 80 DEGREES 80 DEGREES IN 1986 (TIED) JULY 6 81 DEGREES 80 DEGREES IN 1964 JULY 8 80 DEGREES 80 DEGREES IN 1964 (TIED) JULY 9 80 DEGREES 80 DEGREES IN 1964 (TIED) JULY 10 81 DEGREES 80 DEGREES IN 2007 JULY 13 80 DEGREES 80 DEGREES IN 1998 (TIED) JULY 21 81 DEGREES 80 DEGREES IN 1995 JULY 28 81 DEGREES 80 DEGREES IN 1964 JULY 30 83 DEGREES 83 DEGREES IN 1895 (TIED) COLLEGE STATION RECORD HIGH JULY 2 105 DEGREES 103 DEGREES IN 1980 JULY 3 103 DEGREES 101 DEGREES IN 1990 JULY 5 104 DEGREES 103 DEGREES IN 1939 JULY 13 103 DEGREES 103 DEGREES IN 2000 (TIED) RECORD HIGH MINIMUM JULY 4 79 DEGREES 78 DEGREES IN 2005 JUNE 5 80 DEGREES 78 DEGREES IN 1932 JULY 6 80 DEGREES 78 DEGREES IN 1993 JULY 7 79 DEGREES 78 DEGREES IN 1931 JULY 10 80 DEGREES 77 DEGREES IN 2007 JULY 12 78 DEGREES 78 DEGREES IN 1998 (TIED) JULY 14 78 DEGREES 78 DEGREES IN 1925 (TIED) JULY 16 79 DEGREES 79 DEGREES IN 1932 JULY 21 78 DEGREES 78 DEGREES IN 1995 JULY 22 79 DEGREES 79 DEGREES IN 1995 JULY 26 79 DEGREES 79 DEGREES IN 1995 JULY 28 81 DEGREES 79 DEGREES IN 1962 JULY 29 81 DEGREES 79 DEGREES IN 1995 RECORD RAINFALL 56 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITHOUT MEASURABLE RAIN ENDED JULY 19 2009 JULY 20 2.00 INCHES 1.05 INCHES IN 2007 HOUSTON HOBBY AIRPORT RECORD HIGH JULY 5 103 DEGREES RECORD HIGH MINIMUM JULY 4 79 DEGREES JULY 5 78 DEGREES JULY 6 79 DEGREES JULY 8 79 DEGREES JULY 10 79 DEGREES JULY 11 78 DEGREES JULY 16 79 DEGREES JULY 28 79 DEGREES JULY 29 80 DEGREES JULY 30 81 DEGREES JULY 31 80 DEGREES GALVESTON RECORD HIGH JULY 1 95 DEGREES 95 DEGREES IN 1949 (TIED) RECORD HIGH MINIMUM JULY 4 84 DEGREES 84 DEGREES IN 2005 (TIED) JULY 5 83 DEGREES 83 DEGREES IN 1987 (TIED) JULY 10 83 DEGREES 83 DEGREES IN 1992 (TIED) JULY 28 83 DEGREES 83 DEGREES IN 1998 (TIED) JULY 29 83 DEGREES 83 DEGREES IN 2002 (TIED) JULY 30 84 DEGREES 83 DEGREES IN 2004 $$ CR