July 2020 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Sporadic Rains Become More Widespread and Frequent in July

July 2020 St. Cloud Weather Summary

More Rain in July Than Feb-June Combined

Since the snows stopped coming at the start of February, much of Minnesota had been dry. In St. Cloud, only 4.35 inches fell between February and June (4.68 inches below average). However, the pattern turned around with much more frequent rainfall in July. The St. Cloud Municipal Airport picked up 5.39 inches, 2.08 inches above average.

Most Areas With Short-Term Rain Shortages in West Central and Northeastern Minnesota Eased

Given that thunderstorms were primarily responsible for the rainfall, the amounts varied widely with a good chunk of Stearns County and points north having more than 6 inches (red on the July Minnesota rainfall map from NWS). Some of the heaviest rain fell in west central and northeastern Minnesota which had the largest rainfall deficit through June (see comparison of July 28 and June 30 on the US Drought Monitor). Still, both the near ground and sub-ground moisture was rated as being adequate or surplus in 90 percent of Minnesota on the weekly Minnesota Crop Condition Report from June 27 ( new one will be available soon).

Severe Weather Accounted for One Deadly Tornado, Hail and Strong Winds Plus the Rain

The rainfall in July was, at times, too much. On July 25-26, between 5 and 8 inches of rain fell in the Minnesota River Valley (see July 25-26 Extreme Southern Minnesota Rainfall ). Other storm outbreaks ( July 8-EF4 tornado in west central Minnesota that killed one person in a farm building; July 17-18 large hail and widespread wind damage) produced damaging storms across much of the state. The storms merely produced heavy rainfall in St. Cloud with 1.64 inch on July 8, just short of the 1.77 inch daily record, 1.48 inch on July 18, and 0.91 inch on July 26.

Frequently Above 90, But Only a Bit Warmer Than Average

The warmer than average temperature trend that began in June continued in July. The average temperature in St. Cloud was 72.0 degrees, 1.7 degrees above average. It was the warmest July since 2012 and featured 6 days with a high of at least 90 degrees. Still, there weren't many extremely warm days, so a cool period in late July, featuring the only high cooler than 75 (22nd) and the only 2 lows cooler than 55 (22nd and 23rd) pulled the average closer to the long term average. Minnesota was frequently not far away from the real heat that dominated the central and southern Rockies and much of the High Plains (Billings had 11 days with a high of at least 90, while Omaha had 16 such warm days), but either clouds from thunderstorms or occasional Canadian air masses kept the heat down to some degree.

Thus far, the summer of 2020 is consistent with the summers seen in the 2005, 2006, and 2010 through 2013 with warmer than average readings and double digit amounts of days with a high of 90 or higher. The main departure in recent years is how few really hot days there have been. And, the overall Northern Hemisphere Summer has been brutal with heat waves from the Sahara stretching across eastern Europe and Siberia, plus the persistent high heat across the Southern US.

The night of July 25 had a low of 73 degrees, the second low of 70 or higher in St. Cloud this summer. During an average summer, there are 3 such days, but the summers from 2014 through 2019 only had 6 of these days combined. Such warm nights when lows do not drop below 70 are most difficult for people susceptible to the heat who do not have air conditioning.

The beginning of August has featured the coolest air seen since mid-June (first high cooler than 75 and first low cooler than 50 since June), but the hot and humid air isn't that far away.

     July 2020 Statistics