Weather

July 2016 Saint Cloud Weather Summary



Rainfall Hits Central Minnesota Target in July

July 2016 St. Cloud Weather Summary

9th Wettest July in St. Cloud Records

The dominant North American steering wind pattern has been a story of two air mass: oppressively hot air over the Southwest, Southern Plains and, at times, the Southeast and warm and drier air from the northern Canadian Prairie Provinces. The main storm track has been in between from British Columbia and Alberta into Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota and the Great Lakes. Despite frequent storms and severe weather nearby central Minnesota through June, the St. Cloud area had been running short of rainfall (7.28 inches April-June, -2.41 inches below average).

This turned around in July. St. Cloud was never the heaviest precipitation area in some localized downpours, but ended up with 6.74 inches in July, more than double the July average of 3.31 inches. It was still short of the heaviest July rainfall that concentrated between Brainerd and Mille Lacs Lake eastward to Mora, Aitkin, Isle, Moose Lake, and Hinckley, where 10-15 inches of rain fell in July. Other areas of heavy rain included the Park Rapids and Detroit Lakes area and Kandiyohi County north of Willmar. The largest chunk of this rainfall occurred July 11-12 with 7-9 inches of rain in Pine County. In St. Cloud, 3.64 inches of rain fell over the two days, the 11th highest single storm rainfall in St. Cloud weather records and the most in nearly 11 years. The daily rainfall total of 2.63 inches on July 11 broke the daily record rainfall of 1.53 inches, set in 1990.

The July 10-11 storm also produced a localized outbreak of 3 tornadoes just to the south of St. Cloud. One hit the northwestern portions of Litchfield with estimated top winds of 115 MPH, one tornado moved through Watkins with estimated top winds of 125 MPH, and the third tornado hit farm buildings in southern Stearns County north of Watkins and southwest of Pearl Lake. The wind estimate was 105 MPH as the storm hit mostly fields and farm buildings. There were also large hail and straight-line damaging winds from these storms.

There was a second heavy rainfall in St. Cloud on July 23 with 1.76 inches of rain.

Additional July storm outbreaks hit central and southern Minnesota, including southern Stearns and northern Wright Counties on July 5, produced heavy rain in southwestern Minnesota on July 16, produced damaging winds and hail in northwestern Minnesota on July 19-20, and damaging winds producing widespread power outages from the Walker to the Brainerd Lakes region and Little Falls and Royalton, as well as in northeastern Minnesota on July 21-22.

The total rainfall in St. Cloud for the growing season (April 1-July 31) is now 14.02 inches, 1.02 inches above the average rainfall. Areas to the east of St. Cloud have less rainfall and are near average for the season, but the swath of huge rainfall goes from Redwood Falls to the distant western suburbs of the Twin Cities and through Wright and Stearns County, then northward from Staples and Brainerd eastward to Pine County.

Near Average July Temperatures

Being along the major storm track kept St. Cloud from being too warm. The average July temperature was 70.4°F, within 0.1°F of the average. Conditions were very humid on average, so the average low temperature of 59.8°F was 0.7°F above average and the warmest of the past since 2012. However, the average high temperature of 81.0°F was the coolest since 2009. Again, the reason was the frequent presence of thunderstorms over or near St. Cloud. That led to many afternoon in the warm air with a lot of leftover clouds, keeping the hottest of the hot air out of St. Cloud. The St. Cloud Airport did break out into the stifling air on July 20 and 22, each of which broke 90 degrees. There have been 4 days with a high of at least 90 degrees so far this summer, as many as during the past two summers combined.

Despite the persistent humidity, the low temperature never stayed at 70 degrees or higher.

     July 2016 Statistics

Temperatures (°F)
July 2016
1981-2010 Normals
Average High Temperature (°F)
81.0
82.3
Average Low Temperature (°F)
59.8
58.4
Mean Temperature for July (°F)
70.1
70.3
Daily St. Cloud July Records 10 Hottest/Coldest Julys
July Temperature Extremes
Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for July 2016 (°F)
93
July 22
Coldest High Temperature for July 2016 (°F)
73
July 1
Warmest Low Temperature for July 2016 (°F)
69
July 20
Coldest Low Temperature for July 2016 (°F)
45
July 1
Record Temperatures in July 2016
Temperature (°F)
Date
Old Record
No record temperatures set
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
July 2016 Days with High Temperatures >= 90°F
2
4.67
2016 Total Days with High Temperature of At Least 90°F
4
11.43
2016 Total Days with High Temperature of At Least 100°F
0 (Last: June 7, 2011)
0.51
July 2016 Days with Low Temperatures >= 70°F
0
1.72
July 2016 Days with Low Temperatures >= 75°F
0 (Last: July 4, 2012)
0.26
2016 Total Days with Low Temperatures >= 70°F
0
3.00
Precipitation (in)
This Year
1981-2010 Normals
July 2016 Rainfall (in)
6.74#
3.31
2016 Growing Season (April 1 through July 31) Rainfall (in)
14.02
13.00
2016 Year to Date (January 1 through July 31)
16.46
15.79
July Precipitation Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in July 2016
2.63
July 11
Record Precipitation in June 2016
Precipitation (in)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Rainfall
2.63 inches July 11 1.53 inch in 1990
 
Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
July 2016 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
11
9.3
Jan-July 2016 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
72
50.1
July 2016 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
7
5.9
Jan-July 2016 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
32
26.8
July 2016 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
6
4.1
Jan-July 2016 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
21
19.9
July 2016 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
3
2.5
Jan-July 2016 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
6
10.3
July 2016 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
3
1.2
Jan-July 2015 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
4
3.1

Complete list of Saint Cloud July Records
Link to 10 Wettest/Driest Julys

 

Saint Cloud Hottest Annual Temperatures (1988-2016)
Year
Hottest High (°F)
Date
Days with High >= 97°F
1988
102°F
June 24, July 31
13
(7 days with >= 100°F)
1989
98°F
August 4
1
1990
101°F
July 3
1
1991
95°F
July 18
0
1992
92°F
June 12, August 9
0
1993
90°F
August 10
0
1994
95°F
June 14
0
1995
97°F
June 17, July 13
2
1996
96°F
June 28
0
1997
95°F
June 23
0
1998
94°F
May 18
0
1999
98°F
July 30
2
2000
94°F
June 9
0
2001
98°F
August 6, 7
4
2002
95°F
June 30, July 6
0
2003
96°F
August 24
0
2004
96°F
June 30
0
2005
98°F
June 23
1
2006
101°F
July 31
5
2007
96°F
August 10
0
2008
91°F
June 6, 11, August 18
0
2009
92°F
May 20
0
2010
94°F
May 24
0
2011
101°F
June 7
1
2012
94°F
May 18
0
2013
95°F
May 14, Aug 26
0
2014
94°F
July 21
0
2015
91°F
August 14
0
2016
93°F
June 25, July 22
0

 

Historic temperature data provided courtesy of the Saint Cloud National Weather Service Office, and NOAA/NWS
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Send comments to: raweisman@stcloudstate.edu