12:20 PM | The month of July was cooler-than-normal on a nationwide basis; August also looks cool for most
Paul Dorian
Discussion
The month of July ended on a cool note throughout a good part of the country with 1456 cold temperature records set nationwide in the past week compared to only 130 warm temperature records. In fact, in dramatic contrast with last summer, the nation as a whole ended up cooler-than-normal for July by 0.47 degrees Celsius (source NCEP CFSv2) despite the excessive heat in the Northeast US during an 8-day stretch from the 14th to the 21st. The two main areas across the country that ended July with warmer-than-normal temperatures included the Northeast and the western US. In the Mid-Atlantic region, warmer-than-normal temperatures for July increased as one headed up I-95 with DC at +1.4 degrees, Philly +2.5 degrees, and New York City +3.3 degrees.
As far as August is concerned, it appears that the recent pattern of cooler-than-normal weather across the Central Plains, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast will continue. The latest NCEP CFSv2 forecast map of temperature anomalies for August has the vast majority of the nation cooler-than-normal with the only exceptions being parts of the Pacific Northwest and the Gulf coastal region in the south-central part of the country.