August 2006 and Summer 2006 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Heavy, Severe Thunderstorms Somewhat Ease Warm Season Drought

Saint Cloud Weather Summary for August 2006 and Summer 2006

Issued: Saturday, September 2, 2006 5:23 AM

The parched warm season of 2006 in Saint Cloud continued for much of August, until the severe thunderstorms of August 23-24 struck. The Saint Cloud Regional Airport recorded 3.97 inches of rain for the month of August, 0.04 inch greater than normal. However, 2.87 inches (more than 70% of the monthly rain) fell in the thunderstorms of August 23-24. This included 2.35 inches of rain on August 24, setting a new daily rainfall record. This was only the second day of the year that Saint Cloud had at least an inch of rain. That's the fewest number of days with at least an inch since 1992.

The severe thunderstorms that helped produce the heavy rain also produced tornado damage in LeSueur and Nicollet Counties, which produced Minnesota's first tornado death since the Granite Falls tornado in July 25, 2000. As of this point, the National Weather Service is still investigating the number of tornadoes produced.

Before the heavy rains hit, Saint Cloud had mounted a rainfall deficit as large as nearly six and a half inches from May 15 through August 22. Only 6.00 inches had fallen during the three-month period, resulting in very low streamflow in the Upper Mississippi, Saint Croix, and other rivers in the northern half of Minnesota.

Despite that heavy rain, the total Saint Cloud rainfall since May 15 was 8.87 inches, nearly five inches short of the normal total of 13.61 inches. On the late August US Drought Monitor from the National Drought Mitigation Center, all of central Minnesota has been pulled out of the drought classification. Conditions are now ranked as being abnormally dry in central Minnesota to the south of an Alexandria-Little Falls-Mora line. However, extreme drought is shown across north central Minnesota in the areas of the Brainerd Lakes, Lake Mille Lacs, the Iron Range and north central Minnesota. You can also follow the continued dry conditions on the Minnesota 2006 Dry Summer Report from the Minnesota State Climatology Office.

For the meteorological summer of 2006 (June 1 - August 31), the Saint Cloud Airport received 8.62 inches of rain, more than three inches below normal. However, there have been drier summers in recent years, including 1996 (6.74 inches; 9th driest) and 2001 (6.81 inches; 10th driest).

After finishing July 2006 with 9 straight days with a high of at least 90 degrees, August 2006 never recorded a high of 90 degrees. The average Saint Cloud temperature in August 2006 was 69.0°F (average high: 80.4°F; average low: 57.5°F), only 1.7°F warmer than normal.

Thanks mostly to the hot July, the summer of 2006 in Saint Cloud ended up as the 20th warmest summer of the 126 summers in Saint Cloud history. The average temperature of 70.5°F was 3.1°F warmer than normal and 0.1°F warmer than last summer. The statistics were so warm, mainly because July 2006 was the hottest July in Saint Cloud since 1936 and the 8th hottest July on record.

Some of the notable July 2006 statistics included:

    August 2006 Statistics

Summer (June 1-August 31) 2006 Statistics