Fire Weather Concerns; Record Warmth Spreads

The Plains to the mid-Mississippi Valley continue with warm and dry conditions. Any fires that initiate could spread quickly. The warm temperatures will expand across the Southern Plains into the Southwest where numerous records are expected through the weekend. Meanwhile, a cold front will move southward across the northern Plains and Great Lakes region where some snow will develop this weekend. Read More >

During the month of July, temperatures across much of the Northern Plains, including portions of South Dakota and west-central Minnesota were well below normal . Aberdeen, Watertown and Pierre all ended up being in the top 10 for the coldest Julys on record.

A few other interesting heat related tidbits from this “cool” July are listed below:

Aberdeen has failed to reach 90 F this July. This is only the third time this has occurred since 1893 (the other years were 1915, 1962, and 1996).

The highest temperature recorded in Watertown this July has been 83 F. This is the “coolest” monthly maximum temperature ever recorded in July. Records in Watertown date back to 1893.

Like the summer of 2008, Pierre has yet to record a 100 F temperature during the summer of 2009. In fact, the last time Pierre reached 100 F was on 4 September 2007. Since 1933, Pierre has never experienced back to back summers when the temperature failed to reach 100 F.

Top Ten Coldest Average July Temperatures in Aberdeen (1893-2009)

	Value	Year(s)
1	64.2	1992
2	64.5	1915
3	67.1	1904
4	67.2	1950,1962
5	67.4	2009
6	67.5	1905
7	67.8	1958,1996
8	68.0	1895
9	68.1	1918
10	68.2	1971

Top Ten Coldest Average July Temperatures in Watertown (1893-2009)

	Value	Year(s)
1	62.9	1992
2	64.1	1915
3	65.0	1906
4	65.7	2009
5	65.8	1927
6	65.9	1905
7	66.7	1950
8	66.8	1918
9	67.1	1971
10	67.2	1913, 1925

Top Ten Coldest Average July Temperatures in Pierre (1933-2009)

	Value	Year(s)
1	66.3	1992
2	69.8	1993
3	70.3	1972
4	70.4	2009
5	70.5	1950
6	70.7	1958
7	70.8	1971
8	71.5	1962
9	71.9	1994
10	72.4	1951, 1979

NWS Aberdeen SD

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Fire Weather Concerns; Record Warmth Spreads

Cool July Temperatures