2011 Mid-Summer Climate Summary

Well if you thought that it was abnormally hot and dry for the first half of summer, you would definitely be correct! Here are some statistics below to illustrate how unusually warm this heat wave has been!

Average Temperature, Highs, and Lows

The average high, average low, and average temperatures at Lubbock and Childress have been above normal almost every day since the start of meteorological summer (June 1st). Average temperatures are running well above normal and about 1.5 - 2.0 degrees above the next warmest year for the period (June 1st - July 20th).The average highs were extremely warm and have been running about 8-10 degrees above normal with values around three degrees warmer than the next closest year. In addition, overnight lows have also been very warm and on average are running at record levels at both Lubbock and Childress during this same time period as well.

 

         Warmest Average Temperature               (June 1 - July 20)
Lubbock Childress
Rank Avg Temperature (F) Year Rank Avg Temperature (F) Year
1  85.7  2011 1  89.0  2011
2  84.1  1980 2  87.3  1934
3  82.8  1994 3  86.2  1953
4  82.5  1990 4  85.8  1980
5  82.4  2001 5  84.5  1956
6  82.4  1998 6  84.3  1939
7  82.1  1953 7  84.1  2011
8  82.1 1934 8  84.0  1994
9  81.3 2006 9  83.9  1978
10  81.3 1978
10  83.7  1933
  

Warmest Average High Temperature     (June 1 - July 20)
Lubbock Childress
Rank Avg High Temperature (F) Year Rank Avg High Temperature (F) Year
1 100.1 2011 1 104.0 2011
2 97.8 1934 2 101.9 1934
3 97.5 1980 3 99.6 1953
4 97.3 1994 4 99.3 1980
5 96.9 1998 5 98.6 1933
6 96.5 2001 6 98.5 1939
T7 96.2 1990 7 97.8 1936
T7 96.2 1939 8 97.6 1994
T9 96.1 1953 9 96.8 1956
T9 96.1 1933 10 96.7 2001
 

Warmest Average Low Temperature       (June 1 - July 20)
Lubbock Childress
Rank Avg Low Temperature (F)
 Year Rank Avg Low Temperature (F)
 Year
 1 71.2  2011  1 74.1
2011
 2 70.8
 1980
 2 72.8 
1953
 3 68.8
 1978  3 72.6 
1934
 4 68.7 1990
 4 72.3 1980
 5 68.7 1966
 5 72.1
1956
 6 68.3
 2001
 6 71.6  2001
 7 68.3 1994  7 71.1  1978
 8 68.1  2010  8 70.7  2010
 9 68.0  1998  9 70.3  1994
 10 68.0  1953  10 70.2  1971
 
Plot depicting the average high, low, and overall average temperatures from June 1st - July 20th for Lubbock and Childress, compared to the normal values for this same period. In general, temperatures are running 9-10 degrees above normal in each category and are at the warmest values ever recorded for this period.

 

 Number of Excessively Hot Days and Warm Nights
Lubbock has already broken its previous record for most days over 100 degrees and most nights with lows over 75 degrees. With several weeks of summer remaining, Childress is only 15 days away from its record of 100+ degrees days of 71 set in 1934. In addition, the warm overnight lows in excess of 75 degrees for 2011 rank 4th all time at Childress as of July 20th.

 Days with highs of 100 degrees or higher
Lubbock Childress
Rank Number of Days Year Rank Number of Days Year
 1 30  2011  1  71  1934
 2 29  1934  2  70  1939
 3 26  1994  3  58  1930
 4 25  1998  T4  56  2011
 5 24  1924  T4  56  1936
 T6 22  2006  T6  53  1998
 T6 22  1940  T6  53  1943
 T6 22  1936  T8  52  1946
 T6 22  1930  T8  52  1937
 10 20  1990  10  51  1945

 

  

Days with lows of 75 degrees or higher
Lubbock Childress
Rank Number of Days Year Rank Number of Days Year
1 14 2011 1 47 1934
T2 10 1978 2 33 1998
T2 10 1966 3 31 1980
T4 9 1998 4 26 2011
T4 9 1980 5 25 1970
6 7 2001 T6 24 1964
7 6 2003 T6 24 1954
8 5 1994 T6 24 1953
T9 3 2009 T9 23 1969
T9 3 2006 T9 23 1956

 

Plot depicting the number of 100 degree or higher days at Lubbock and Childress for 2011. Note that as of July 20, the 30 days of 100 degree or higher maximum temperatures observed at Lubbock has broken the previous record of 29 days set during the peak of the dust bowl era in 1934. In addition, a plot of the record highs temperature observed from June 1-July 20 at both Lubbock and Childress is shown in the lower center of the image.

 Number of Conceutive 90+ and 100+ Days
The current streak of 90+ degree days at Lubbock and Childress both stand at 56 days as neither site has failed to reach this plateau since May 26th. In addition, back in June, Lubbock reached 100 degrees for seven straight days from June 23rd - June 29th, tying it for seventh place all time. Childress has been even hotter as the mercury has reached the 100 degree plateau for 30 consecutive days (since June 22nd). This streak ranks 2nd all time and only two behind the record of 32 straight days set in 1934.
Consecutive 90+ Degree Days
Lubbock Childress
Rank Number of Days Year Rank Number of Days Year
1 81 1934 T1 88 1980
2 67 1933 T1 88 1934
T3  56* 2011 3 80 2000
T3 56 2001 4 72 1937
T3 56 1943 5 70 1931
T6 53 1953 6 68 1933
T6 53 1936 7 64 1969
8 50 2000 8  56* 2011
9 44 1980 T9 53 1954
10 39 2006 T9 53 1953

  

Consecutive 100+ Degree Days
Lubbock Childress
Rank Number of Days Year Rank Number of Days Year
1 12 1980 1 32 1943
2 11 1994 2  30* 2011
3 10 1924 3 28 1980
T4 8 1990 4 26 1939
T4 8 1986 5 24 1937
T4 8 1928 6 22 1954
T7 7 2011 7 21 1934
T7 7 2003 T8 20 1978
T7 7 1940 T8 20 1936
10 6 1998 10 19 1940

Plots depicting the number of consecutive 100+ days and 90+ degree days at both Lubbock and Childress. As of July 20th, the current streak of 30 consecutive 100+ days at Childress is only two away from the longest streak on record.

Precipitation

At Lubbock, dry conditions continued into the summer as June ranked as the driest ever on at Lubbock as no measureable rainfall was observed during the month. From July 9th - 12th some scattered thunderstorms developed across the region as Gulf mositure pushed into the area thanks to a Tropical Upper Tropospheric Trough or  "TUTT"  that moved across the region. Unfortunately, these storms generally stayed to the north and east of Lubbock only producing 0.02" at the observing site. Thus, this summer continues to be the driest on record at Lubbock. However, after a very dry June, the aforementioned storms did move into the extreme southeastern Panhandle and produced 1.79" of rainfall at Childress, knocking it off of the top 10 list for driest summer rainfall totals to date. However, exceptional drought conditions are still prevailing across almost all of the South Plains region as we are still several inches below our normal rainfall totals for the year as shown in the graphs below!

           Lowest Precipitation Totals           (June 1 - July 20)
Lubbock Childress
Rank Precipitation (in) Year Rank Precipitation (in) Year
1 0.03" 2011 1 0.13" 1954
2 0.12" 1990 2 0.35" 1998
3 0.47" 2001 3 0.45" 1980
4 0.55" 1954 4 0.61" 2001
5 0.58" 1933 5 0.81" 1942
6 0.75" 2006 6 0.83" 1970
7 0.91" 1929 7 1.05" 1925
8 0.93" 1934 8 1.10" 1940
9 1.34" 1958 9 1.18" 1990
10 1.36" 1970 10 1.22" 1968

 

Plot comparison between 2011 and 2010 of precipitation observed at Lubbock and Childress from June 1-July 20 and the year-to-date amounts compared to the average annual total.

 

USA.gov is the U.S. government's official web portal to all federal, state and local government web resources and services.