August 2008 and Summer 2008 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Some Late Month Relief From the Summer Dryness

Saint Cloud Weather Summary for August 2008 and Summer 2008

Issued: Wednesday, September 3, 2008 10:55 AM

For the third straight year, St. Cloud had a major dry period during the summer. While much of August intensified the dry conditions, two major rainfall events on the 3rd and the 25th eased the conditions considerably.

The total August rainfall at St. Cloud Regional Airport was 4.18 inches, 0.25 inch above normal. However, all of the rain only fell on 5 days, the fewest number of days in August with measurable rainfall since 1996. St. Cloud had nearly its own private rainstorm on August 3rd as the Airport received 2.36 inches, the most daily rainfall in St. Cloud since October 4, 2005 when 3.42 inches fell (nearly the same amount of rain, 2.35 inches, fell on August 24, 2006). The second rainfall of August 27 produced 1.42 inches at the St. Cloud Airport and dumped 2-3 1/2 inches of rain along the I-35 corridor from Grand Marais and Duluth into the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Before the second rainfall, St. Cloud's rainfall shortage between June 15 and August 25 was 3.76 inches (5.14 actual; 8.90 normal). The August 29 growing season rainfall from the Minnesota State Climatology Office showed a rain shortfall of 5-7 inches from Wright and southern Benton Counties through the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. The rain shortfall caused parts of Minnesota to be ranked in moderate drought conditions by the National Drought Mitigation Center's Drought Monitor. Before the August 25 rainfall, streamflow, as shown by the Minnesota DNR Waters streamflow map, was in the lowest 10% of years along the Upper Mississippi River, the Upper St. Croix, and along the Mississippi and its tributaries from St. Cloud through the Twin Cities. Despite the late month rainfall, the mid-summer rainfall deficit still stood at 3.09 inches and streamflow was still only in the lowest 25% of years from St. Cloud to the Twin Cities with continued very low streamflow to our north and east.

During the entire meteorological summer (June 1-August 31), Saint Cloud had 9.95 inches of rain, 1.83 inches short of the normal summer rainfall.

Because of the rainy spring, crops have progressed fairly well in Minnesota, according to the weekly Minnesota Ag Newsletter from the USDA. In fact, the warm dry weather towards the end of the month helped wheat and oat harvests to return to near normal. Still, about 50% of the Minnesota topsoil was listed as being short or very short of moisture.

The St. Cloud area did miss a heavy Red River Valley rain event that produced up to 3-4 1/2 inches in west central Minnesota. That Upper Red River Valley is one of the few areas with above normal rainfall on the growing season rainfall map in the August 29 growing season rainfall report.

Still, the summer dry spell does not even approach the six and a half inch rainfall shortage by this time in 2007 and the four and three-quarters inch shortfall in 2006.

Normally, The Temperatures Aren't Quite As Normal

August was the only month of the 2008 summer that was significantly warmer than normal. The Saint Cloud Regional Airport averaged 68.4°F in August, which was 1.2°F above normal. The warmer weather produced 20 days with a high of at least 80°F, pushing the average temperature a bit above normal. However, only August 17 had a high cracking 90-degrees. The summer of 2008 had only three days with a high of at least 90, the fewest number of 90-degree highs since 1993.

The remarkable part of this summer in St. Cloud was how normal the temperatures were. In June and July combined, there were only 4 days with an average temperature more than 6 degrees away from normal. In August 2008, St. Cloud more than doubled that total (7 days), thanks to six straight days of above normal temperatures between the 17th and the 22nd. Still, only 11 of the 92 days had an average temperature more than 6 degrees from normal.

While late August into early September had some of the warmest temperatures seen all summer, the weather pattern changed quickly after the Labor Day Weekend. The steering winds in western North America pushed back into the US after spending much of the previous month along or even north of the Canadian border. That has set up the St. Cloud area for cooler than normal temperatures for most of the first week of September. Beyond that, there are no strong trends.

    August 2008 Statistics

Summer (June 1-August 31) 2008 Statistics