Syracuse, NY -- July was an above-average month — wetter and much warmer than most Julys. The average temperature for the month was 74.5 degrees, according to preliminary figures from the National Weather Service. That’s 3.6 degrees above the normal for July. Rainfall for the month totaled 4.28 inches, .38 of an inch more than normal. Nearly all the rain...
Syracuse, NY -- July was an above-average month — wetter and much warmer than most Julys.
The average temperature for the month was 74.5 degrees, according to preliminary figures from the National Weather Service. That’s 3.6 degrees above the normal for July.
Rainfall for the month totaled 4.28 inches, .38 of an inch more than normal.
Nearly all the rain fell on three days: July 9, July 23 and July 24. It rained .65 inches the first day, 2.17 inches the next and 1.05 inches during the third. The rest of the month’s rain, .41 inches, was scattered over six other days.
Unlike the rain, heat was consistent. Temperatures were above average for all but nine days through the month. in fact, temperatures topped 80 degrees every day but one from July 3, the first Saturday of the month, until Wednesday.
A five-day string of days of 90 degrees or higher marked the first full week of the month. Central New York had not experienced such a prolonged spell of temperatures at or above 90 degrees since 2002. Thermometers hit 90 degrees two more times in July, on the ninth and the 17th.
However, all that heat brought just one record: The National Weather Service reported it got to 94 degrees on July 6, tying the record for the date set in 1993.
Despite the heat and the wet, the month ended as it had begun began, cool and dry. The lowest temperature recorded all month — 51 degrees — came on July 2 and again on Saturday morning. Both days brought no rain.
August is expected to start wet, with showers and possible thunderstorms in the forecast for today and Monday. By Tuesday, temperatures are expected to reach into the upper 80s with thunderstorms remaining a possibility.
Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.