August 2011 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Streak of Warm Summers Continue in St. Cloud

Saint Cloud Weather Summary for August 2011 and Summer 2011

Issued: Friday, September 2, 2011 8:35 AM

After going through a series of relatively cool summers 1990's, Saint Cloud meteorological summer of 2011 continued the recent trend of warm summers. During the meteorological summer of 2011 (June 1-August 31), Saint Cloud Regional Airport had an average temperature of 70.0°F, 2.1°F above normal. This was the 32nd warmest of the 131 summers in St. Cloud recorded history.

While this summer was not quite as warm as last summer (70.2°F), the summer of 2011 continues the trend of 5 warm summers during the past 6 years, and 9 warm summers in the past 12 years. Those 5 warm recent summers are all the warmest St. Cloud has seen since the summer of 1988, the height of the late 1980's heat wave and drought. Still, the decade of the hottest summers was the 1930's with 5 of the 10 hottest summers in St. Cloud records.

The summer of 2011 did include St. Cloud's first 100-degree high (June 7) since 2006 and the third earliest in the season 100-degree high (only May 28, 1934 and May 31, 1934 were earlier). July also produced the first heat wave since 2006. There was also St. Cloud first 75-degree low (on July 17) since 2006 and 5 straight days with a low of at least 70 degrees for the first time since 1955.

This is in great contrast to the 1990's, which on average, was the decade with the coolest summers in St. Cloud records. Note also that the summers of 2004 and 2009, the summers that interrupt the recent trend, each rank as one of St. Cloud's coolest summers.

(Climate Change Note: St. Cloud temperatures can neither prove nor disprove global warming. The average temperature of the entire earth must be taken into account. These temperatures have shown two warming periods in the past 150 years: 1900-1940 and 1976-2002, supporting the theory of a warming atmosphere.)

August Warm, But Not Extreme

August 2011 continued the trend of warm weather, but was not nearly as hot as July. The average August temperature at the St. Cloud Regional Airport was 69.6°F, 1.8°F warmer than normal and ranks as the 35th warmest of the 131 Augusts in St. Cloud records. St. Cloud didn't have any extreme highs or lows in August. The highest temperature was 89, set on August 2, but it was consistently warm with only the last two days of the month having a high cooler than 75 degrees. The lows were more above normal (58.4°F, 2.4°F warmer than the average lows), since dew points remained relatively high, even when cooler air tried to push in. That was thanks to the frequent rains that continued into August.

August Continues Wet Trend

The rains kept coming during August in St. Cloud. The total August rainfall was 5.32 inches, 1.53 inch above normal. Unlike the previous months, however, most of the rain fell in two big storms. The first on August 1-2 dumped 1.94 inch of rain on St. Cloud, 1.59 inch on the first, which was just .01 short of the daily record. The second big rain event was on August when 1.66 inch fell.

Still, there were 11 days with measurable rainfall in August, matching the totals for both June and July. So far in 2011, it has rained on 91 of the 243 days. That's the 4th highest number of days through August in St. Cloud records. The most days with measurable rainfall was set in 1979 (99 days). So, it has rained 37% of the time so far this year. There have also been 52 days with 0.10 inch through August. That ties for the 4th-most, but is only 1 day short of the highest total. In most of the precipitation categories (access through St. Cloud extremes toolbar), St. Cloud has nearly matched the annual total with 4 months to go (and it's already rained on September 1).

Even Wetter Than St. Cloud in Central Minnesota

Still, the St. Cloud Airport has not been hit as hard as other areas near by. According to this week's state precipitation map from the Minnesota State Climatology Office, central Minnesota has been the wettest part of the state, but areas near Alexandria, Cold Spring, Kimball, South Haven, and Kingston have had the most rain during the growing season. In the weekly precipitation table, Collegeville has been more than nine and a half inches (nearly three and a quarter inches above normal in August alone) higher than normal with Alexandria, Hutchinson, and Saint Paul more than 7 inches above normal.

For the growing season so far (April-August), the St. Cloud Airport has has 21.48 inches, 5.29 inches above normal.

However, after the water gush on August 16, only three of the last 15 days had measurable rainfall. In fact, the 6 straight dry days of August 24-29 was the first streak that long since early June. The only longer dry stretch this year was February 12-19.

What's Up Next?

September, on the average, has highs ranging from the upper 70's early in the month to the middle 60's by late in the month. Low temperatures drop out of the 50's to near 40 by the end of the month. Still, there's nearly one 90-degree high during the month, and September 1 is trying to be that day. Both 2003 and 2007 produced three 90 degree highs. On the other hand, St. Cloud should see its first frost of the year (average date of Sept. 22). We'll also see the leaves changing in northern and central Minnesota. Over the past few years, September has been a Jekyll and Hyde month with a chilly and wet September last year, but a September that just missed the top 10 warmest in 2009 and was the second driest on record.

    August 2011 Statistics

Summer (June 1-August 31) 2011 Statistics