Seems Like Not Much of A Summer, But...

St. Cloud July 2013 Weather Summary

The summer of 2013 has seemed like the summer of our discontent, since we've had so much trouble getting sunny and hot days. However, what this summer has proven to be is quite fickle. The average July St. Cloud temperature ended up being 70.8°F, within 0.5°F of the July average, but it was the result of a very warm first three weeks and a fall preview over the last 9 days.

First Three Weeks Hot, But Not Extraordinarily So

The hot weather seen early this month, including 4 days with a high of at least 90°F and a heat wave (three days in a row) July 16-18, produced an average July 1-22 temperature of 74.1°F (85.3°F high, 62.9°F low) that would rank as 4.5°F warmer than the July average, but a full degree short of cracking St. Cloud's 10 warmest Julys. The 4 July days at 90 or high is slightly below average for July and doesn't include the warmest day of the year so far: May 14 with a high of 95°F. There have been only 20 days with a high of 97°F or higher in St. Cloud from 1989 on. There have been only 6 total days with a high of 90 or higher this warm season so far; St. Cloud usually averages 8 by the end of July. On the other hand, two of the heat wave days did have a low of 70°F or higher, more than the July average, but still short of the past two Julys.

Then, a change of the steering winds to a stronger flow out of Canada changed temperatures drastically. Over the last 9 days of July, the average temperature was 62.9°F (74.5°F high, 51.2°F low). The coldest of this cold was felt over July 26-28. St. Cloud broke July 26 record cold high with a temperature of 68°F. However, the old record of 69°F, set in 1971 and tied in 1990, is the warmest value of the coldest high of any date in July (tied with July 25). In fact, the high was colder on July 27 (66°F), but that was short of record cold high of 62°F, set in 1991. One record cold low fell on July 28 with a temperature of 43°F, breaking the old record of 44°F, set in 1981. It was also three degrees short of the coldest St. Cloud July low temperature of 40°F, set both on July 1, 1969, and July 7, 1972. Each day of July 26-28 did break or tie daily records for the coldest average temperature. Statewide, the cold on July 27 broke several cold high and low temperatures.

Before the late July weekend, the last time a July record cold high was set was on July 14, 2011 with a high of 68°F. The last July record cold low was also 43°F, set on July 19, 2009. Highs in the upper 60's and lows in the 40's are typical of May 10 or September 22, rather than late July.

The up and down temperature pattern in July matched the pattern seen in June.

Well, Are We Having Way Too Many Cool Days?

Are we seeing an huge amounts of days that don't feel like summer? Not really. Between June and July there have been 29 days with a high cooler than 80°F. However, other years have had many more "cool highs." In 1992, there were 47 days with a high cooler than 80°F. In 1993, there were 41 days with a high cooler than 80°F. In fact, the average number of days over the past 22 years (since 1992) is 25.9. The same can be said of days with a low cooler than 60°F. June and July this year have totalled 37 days, but the average of the past 22 years is 39.3 days with 58 days in 1992. Note that the summer of 1992 is the coldest summer in St. Cloud records.

These sudden switches have continued from June when the first two weeks matched the pace of the fifth coldest June and the last 16 days were on track for the 8th warmest June.

Break in Rainfall Finally

The only consistency about July has been the break in the heavy thunderstorm activity. July 2013 ranks as the 14th driest of the 119 Julys in St. Cloud records with 1.43 inch, nearly 1.9 inches below the July average of 3.31 inches. The dry July has been a marked change from the wet late winter and early spring. Still, for the growing season, which began April 1, the northern portion of Stearns County, plus Benton, Morrison, and Todd Counties have all had precipitation more than 10% higher than average, according to this week's Minnesota State Climatology Office's weekly precipitation map. As of Saturday, 26% of Minnesota had topsoil moisture ranked as being short or very short. Despite the cool weather, the growing degree days since mid-May are within about 5% of normal in central Minnesota. Still, for the growing season (April 1-July 31), St. Cloud has picked up nearly two inches above average (actual: 15.07 inches; average: 13.10 inches). For the calendar year, St. Cloud is more than 3.6 inches above average on precipitation (actual: 19.48 inches; average: 15.79 inches).

This has provided a welcome break from the severe thunderstorms, widespread tree damage and localized flooding seen in late June. Note that the huge rainfall totals on July 13, as well as other dates, have fallen to the south of St. Cloud.

    July 2013 Statistics