Local Climate Data and Plots

Local Weather History For August 17th...

In 1988, the Drought of 1987-88 and Summer of 1988 heat reached its climax in July through 19th of this month. The drought was comparable to 1953-54 and 1965-66 drought, but not as extreme as the one in 1930-31. The drought peaked in mid July and then the 11th through the 18th of August. The lowest Palmer drought index was -5.9 over the Northwest climate division. It was the 3rd driest summer at Charleston. Boating was closed at several lakes due to low water levels. Many local reservoirs were dry or too low to maintain water quality. Summersville Lake dropped more than 50 feet. Record low river stages at Thurmon and Craigsville were recorded during July. Record low stages for this month included: Burnsville on Little Kanawha 3.47 feet on 13th, Rowlesburg on the Cheat -0.16 feet on the 15th, and Williamson on the Tug Fork 1.49 feet on the 15th. The hottest days were July 16th and August 17th. On August 17th, the high at Williamson was 107 degrees, and the 96 degrees at Beckley was the highest on record, also that citys hottest month on record.'