While much, if not most, of the contiguous U.S. had a cooler than normal summer, the Pacific Northwest endured one of its hottest such on record. Here are a few details.
Temperature anomalies for the climatological summer of 2014. The top map shows the average daily maximum departure from normal, the middle map the minimum such, and the bottom map the overall departure from normal. As is apparent, it was the minimum temperature anomalies in the Pacific Northwest that contributed most to the record warmth in the region. There were few days of record-breaking maximum temperatures observed at any location. NCDC information, maps provided by Stu Ostro at TWC.
For the climatological summer of 2014 (June-July-August) it was the warmest on record for Medford, Roseburg, and Salem in Oregon, as well as Mt. Shasta City in California:
Here is a list of the site’s record average temperatures set this past summer and their respective previous warmest summers (June-August):
Medford, OR: 74.9° (old record 73.9° in 1967)
Roseburg, OR: 71.7° (old record 69.1° in 1958)
Salem, OR: 69.4° (old record 68.8° in 1958)
Mt. Shasta City, CA: 69.3° (old record 68.4° in 1960)
For Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon it was the warmest July-August period ever observed with Seattle averaging 69.2° for the two-month period (old record 68.8° in 1967) and Portland 72.5° (old record in 1985). Curiously, Seattle had its 3rd warmest July-August period just last summer (2013) with a 68.7° two-month average.
Spokane, Washington also experienced its warmest July-August on record, along with several other towns in the ‘Inland Empire’ region.
Table from NWS-Spokane
In Washington State the warm and dry summer has resulted in its largest wild fire on record as I blogged about on August 12th. There have also been several large dust storms, including one on August 30th that caused a massive 50-vehicle pileup on I-82 near Kennewick in the southwestern part of Washington. Nine people were hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries.
A dust storm closes in on a farm in western Washington on August 13th. One does not normally associate such events with the state’s climate. Photographer not identified/AP photo.
While on the topic of summer warmth, the temperature peaked at 104° at Amarillo, Texas on August 31st, the warmest temperature for the entire summer and the latest in the summer such a temperature has ever been observed at the site (POR began in 1892): surpassing by 13 days the former latest-104° reading set on August 18, 1994 (the warmest September temperature ever recorded in Amarillo is 103° on September 5, 1995). Aside from this, temperature-wise it has been a fairly normal summer in the city with an average of 77.0°, 1.5° above average.
In spite of the hot summer in the Northwest, most people in the U.S. will remember this past summer for its lack of any extreme heat. Although I am not aware of any sites recording their coolest summer on record there have been many notable cool waves, especially in July, and some cities (Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo) have yet to see a single 90°+ reading. Chicago has enjoyed only three such days so far, compared to the average of 17 by this time of the year. Linda Lam of The Weather Channel has this great compilation of some of this past summer’s temperature and precipitation highlights.
Christopher C. Burt
Weather Historian
|
I've checked all the NWS sites for information concerning if there has
(yet) been any 'coldest climatological summer' on record reported
anywhere in the U.S. I suspected that perhaps some sites in the UP of
Michigan and other regions in the central U.S. might have have endured
such. However, so far, no reports have confirmed this. As the data comes
in over the next week or so, we may indeed find such. I always attempt to relate significant temperature records worldwide, whether cold or hot, but the fact is that the majority of such records (monthly or seasonal) have been leaning towards the 'warmer' category for the past 10 years or so. . Quoting 1. Svfortuna: |
6. DCSwithunderscores
11:24 PM GMT on September 02, 2014
Quoting 1. Svfortuna: Why are you interested in what a politician (Al Gore) said? Note that if he claimed in 2007 that the arctic sea ice may be gone for part of the year this year, then that would also leave the possibility that it may not be gone this year. Here's what he actually said in 2007: "One study estimated that it could be completely gone during summer in less than 22 years. Another new study, to be presented by U.S. Navy researchers later this week, warns it could happen in as little as seven years. Seven years from now." Note that he didn't even state then that it would be gone within 22 years, but that it could be. Note that the trend in the amount of arctic sea ice is downward. Here is a short video that explains a bit about how the trend in arctic sea ice works (and doesn't work): Link |
5. DonnieBwkGA
11:22 PM GMT on September 02, 2014| Jeez, Mr. Burt had an entry about late June snows in the Baltic states. He plays it straight. |
4. bappit
11:07 PM GMT on September 02, 2014| Beautiful pic of the dust storm. |
3. PeabodySherman
10:30 PM GMT on September 02, 2014|
>Now are we going to talk about areas in the United States that had the coolest summers on record? It helps to read before popping off. Makes you look bad: Try http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/ comment.html?entrynum=297 "It was the coldest July on record (average monthly temperature) for portions of the central U.S. including the states of Indiana and Arkansas...." Yet globally, "July was the 4th warmest such since 1880 according to NOAA and the 11th warmest according to NASA data (the difference in assessments is due to several factors which I’ll discuss in a future blog). " |
2. PeabodySherman
10:24 PM GMT on September 02, 2014|
> have a political and social agenda and they absolutely refuse to let the facts get in the way of the truth Indeed. How about a link to those "vastly expanded ice sheets?" |
1. Svfortuna
9:48 PM GMT on September 02, 2014| Now are we going to talk about areas in the United States that had the coolest summers on record? There is a constant drum beat by the Global Warming crowd, but not a word about record cool weather around the States, or the vastly expanded polar ice sheets---- yes--- the same ice sheets Al Gore claimed may be gone by this year. It is apparent that many in the so called "scientific community," have a political and social agenda and they absolutely refuse to let the facts get in the way of the truth |
7. Christopher C. Burt , Weather Historian
1:34 AM GMT on September 03, 2014