RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – In the meteorology world, we define Summer as the three-month period of June, July and August. Based on our trip around the Sun, though, the Autumnal Equinox is not until September 22 at 4:44 p.m. EDT.
Let’s recap this Summer, though, by month for Richmond. (All data is from Richmond International Airport).
JUNE:
Average High Temperature: 86.3 degrees FahrenheitAverage Low Temperature: 67.1 degrees Fahrenheit
Average Temperature for the month: 76.7 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s 1.4 degrees F above average)
Number of days 90 degrees or hotter: 10
Precipitation: 6.50″ (that’s 2.57″ above average)
Number of days with measurable rain: 13
JULY:
Average High Temperature: 88.9 degrees Fahrenheit
Average Low Temperature: 72.1 degrees Fahrenheit
Average Temperature for the month: 80.5 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s 1.2 degrees F above average)
Number of days 90 degrees or hotter: 16
Precipitation: 5.88″ (that’s 1.37″ above average)
Number of days with measurable rain: 14
AUGUST:
Average High Temperature: 84.6 degrees Fahrenheit
Average Low Temperature: 67.1 degrees Fahrenheit
Average Temperature for the month: 75.9 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s 1.6 degrees F below average)
Number of days 90 degrees or hotter: 7
Precipitation: 7.64″ (that’s 2.98″ above average)
Number of days with measurable rain: 13
As of this posting, we have not reached 100 degrees this year. But there have been plenty of Summers without hitting the century mark in Richmond.
So even though we haven’t felt extreme heat, we have had a hotter-than-average Summer overall. And we don’t have our afternoon highs to credit with being warmer-than-average. It’s the overnight lows which are the real culprit! In fact, our average afternoon highs were about a degree below average for Summer. But our overnight lows were about two degrees above average for Summer. That may not sound like much, but when you’re looking at averages and long-term trends, it matters!
So why were our overnights warmer? There were plenty of overnights with cloud-cover, sure. That’s one contributing factor. But we also had many a muggy night! When dew points remain up in the upper 60s and lower 70s, that means air temperatures can’t get below those values, either. This concept feeds into my next discussion…rain.
As for precipitation, we’ve clearly continued the 2013 trend of being wetter-than-average. Summer rain amounted to 20.02″ at RIC, well above the average Summer rainfall of 13.10″. We’ve had a muggy Summer with higher dew point temperatures and more moisture in the atmosphere with which to work. That also means more heavy downpours.
As of this posting, our year-to-date rainfall stands at 39.02″ which is about 8 and three-quarter inches above average for the year so far. Even if we don’t get another drop of rain (or snow) through the end of the year, we’ll end up only a few inches below average for the year. Richmond’s average annual rainfall is 43.60″.
Stay with CBS 6, we’ll keep you ahead of the storm.
Meteorologist Carrie Rose
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