Friday, August 01, 2008

Two-thirds of the way there

Since us weatherfolk like anything that makes number-crunching easier, we don't mess around with astronomical starts to the seasons (i.e. September 21, etc.), especially since they change from year to year. So, as far as climate data is concerned, autumn begins on September 1. And since today is August 1, that means that we've just entered our final month of summer.

Let's take a look at where we're going through this new month:

To start off August, we typically would see highs in the lower 80s after morning lows in the lower 60s. Sunset is a nice, late 8:15 p.m. However, by the time we hit the last day of August, our temperature normals have come down five degrees. And look at the sunset time! We will be losing 45 minutes at the end of the day.

5 comments:

tony said...

hey justin, i know this off topic from this post, but is it a fact or a myth that wherever you see a lightning strike as far as cloud to ground, that is where a heavier downpour is. is that a true statement or just a myth. I heard it a long time ago.

Justin Gehrts said...

Nope, 100% myth. In fact, the phrase "bolt from the blue" has more truth to it. It's possible to have a cloud-to-ground lightning strike where it's not raining and, in unusual cases, where there isn't even a cloud directly overhead.

Here are two pictures that illustrate that really well:

Photo 1

Photo 2

Justin Gehrts said...

(Forgot to mention... I suggest opening those links in a new tab or window so you can see the whole thing in full resolution.)

tony said...

Ok justin, thanks. I didn't think it was true, but I thought I had remembered hearing something about that about 10 years ago or so. I almost thought it was because where a cloud to ground strike happens is a more intense updraft. It is great to have a superb 13 weather team to answer these.

WI Weather Buff said...

Thanks for the heads-up about the last month of summer.

I feel like I'm still recovering from all that sn*w we had last winter.

I sure hope we don't have 2 back-to-back nasty winters (weren't there 2-in-a-row sometime back in the late 70s? I'm thinking 1978-79 maybe, or maybe it was 77-78?).

The summer has been mild so far compared to last summer (remember multiple days of 100+ heat indices?).

This is a Good Thing (for me anyway) as I lost a tree that provided major summer afternoon shade to my house in a wind storm earlier this summer.

Off to enjoy a beautiful summer morning at the farmer's market...