The keep heating in July, joined by local heavy rainfall drought conditions improved. We also Check out the recent weather using the new Almanac feature in our Station Scout tool.
The peak of the summer heat
In terms of climate, July is our hottest month of the year, and last month really saw temperatures rise, even above the usual midsummer levels. The National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) reports a preliminary statewide mean temperature of 78.8°Franked as ours July 18 is the warmest since 1895.
This month is notable for some heatwaves, which begin shortly after Independence Day. With high pressure in place over the Southeastern United States, temperatures reach 102°F in Raleigh on July 6 and 7 to hit record highs on both days.
That makes the capital city three hundred days so far this summer, the most this time of year since nine triple-digit days in both 2011 and 2012. Raleigh has also hit at least 90 degree for 48 days. in 2022, the fourth most through the end of July, since 1887.
With Raleigh being one of the hottest spots in the state last month, we’re reminiscent of the Urban Heat Island Temperature Mapping Campaign conducted last July in Raleigh and Durham. Volunteers equipped with temperature sensors drove, cycled, and walked in both cities, and we found some clear differences between the hottest and coolest areas. For more on that project, including a map of observed temperatures, see Website UHI.
This July, the early-month heat was followed by a rare midsummer dip. On Sunday, July 10, behind a cold front and with cooler air from the north, high temperature stuck in the 70s – readings are more typical mid-April than mid-July.
That cool weather is fleeting, like high pressure building on Carolinas once again lifting us into the 90s early next week. We also ended the month in a long period with temperatures above the 90s, and Wet continental bridge temperature – a measure of human heat exposure – has reached extremes across parts of the Piedmont and Coastal Plain, meaning heat exhaustion can occur in as little as 15 minutes for people who work or exercise in direct sunlight.
Even some of the mountain sites did a good 90’s climb last month. Murphy has now measured 20 days at or above 90°F so far this year, the 8th highest in the past 44 years and the highest since 2012.
Our minimum temperature was also outstanding last month due to a series of humid air masses in place that prevented our temperatures from dropping much overnight. Statewide, it’s ours The warmest day of July 6-July recorded based on an average low of 69.3°F. Five of our eight warmest Julys are ranked by the average lows that have occurred since 2011.
Greensboro hit a daily record on July 28 with a low of 74°F. That nighttime low was 4 degrees warmer higher than the July 10 afternoon high, underscoring how out-of-season that spring-like Sunday really is.
With one more month of summer left – and the trend of heat in North Carolina extending into the fall – a helpful new resource is the National Integrated Temperature Health Information System at HEAT.gov. It includes detailed information about current and future heat hazards, along with tips to stay safe when exposed to heat.
Showers and storms Create a dent in the drought
Scattered storms left some places flooded last month while others remained dry. Those mixed fortunes are reflected in the statewide preliminary average rainfall of 6.04 inchesit’s ours July is the 47th wettest over the past 128 years, according to the NCEI.
One of the wettest areas of the state last month was the Central Coastal Plain. New Bern has the 6th wettest July record at 11.58 inches, while the National Weather Service office in Newport measured 16.57 inches and July was the wettest in 25 years.
That total includes three consecutive days of at least one inch of rain from July 8 to 10, along with 4.64 inches on July 24 – the heaviest total rainfall in a single day there since the storm. Hurricane Florence in September 2018.
While parts of our South and Central coasts are in Moderate (D1) or Severe Drought (D2) in July, heavy rains have completely eliminated drought conditions. localize and replenish streams and wetlands that have dried up in early summer. We wrote about characteristics and benefits of these water features in the Coastal Plain as part of Curious Coast’s blog post series last month.
The western Piedmont also benefited from July’s rainfall to improve from Moderate Drought back to the Unusually Dry (D0) classification on the US Drought Monitor. Remarkable, Hickory has the 3rd wettest July with 10.18 inches and Greensboro had the 20th wettest July in 120 years with a total of 7.01 inches.
Showers and storms on July 20 were particularly damaging across the western half of the state. Total rainfall more than 4 inches nearby Marble in Cherokee County, which causing landslides and prompting evacuations of houses and a campsite.
That same night in the town of Stanley County of Oakboroa bolt of lightning struck a tree through the ground, damaging a road and sending debris flying to a nearby roof, according to the Oakboro Police Department.
Amid the wet and stormy areas, some highlights are drier, including the far northeast of the state. City of Elizabeth were 4.80 inches in July, 0.9 inches lower than normal, and they are now 3.6 inches lower than normal since early summer.
Currently, Moderate Drought continues in parts of the Northern Coastal Plain, where seasonal rainfall deficit present and monthly average flow below normal in July.
We are still not fully out of the drought, and the recent rains may come too late for some crops like early maize to fully recover. However, we are definitely in better shape than we were a month ago, with a Severe Drought in the Coastal Plain washed away by rainfall in July.
Summer Scout with our Almanac feature
Last spring, we debuted Medical system as a new way to request and retrieve historical weather data. Eighteen months and more than 4,000 claims later, Cardinal is still going strong – but that doesn’t mean we’re done with the improvement!
In July, we revealed a new addition to Scouting station, our tool for discovering statewide weather stations. The Almanac feature helps put recent conditions into historical perspective using ratings, ranges, and other visualizations.
To see what Almanac can offer, let’s start by looking at humidity levels over the past month in some of the wettest areas. In HickoryThe average humidity in July is 81.4%, the second highest among the past 25 years.
Clicking on that color-coded statistic opens a list of all Julys ranked by their relative humidity, which shows that only July 2003 was in the wetter Hickory.
We can also see how our temperatures have risen so far this summer. Raleigh are on pace for the 3rd warmest summer on record based on mean and 4th warmest based on maximum and minimum temperatures.
To see when the temperature is hottest, click on the parameter name, such as “Average Maximum Air Temperature”, to reveal a daily lookout. This clearly shows three days this year when Raleigh has hit 100 degrees – and those are the comfortable spring days we’ve come to expect amid our recent heat.
Finally, in stormy areas, we can see how windy the past month has been. In SouthportThis is the second windiest July in 18 years. Only July 2012 had a higher average wind speed.
To see these stats for stations in your area, see Station Scout ToolSelect a station using the map and search options, then click the “Almanac” tab at the top of the station’s page.
You can choose a custom date and see data from one day to the beginning of the year to date. That makes Scout an even more powerful way to explore and visualize our weather.
