Summer 2009 climate recap

Most Mid-Southerners are aware that the weather during the summer months in this region varied widely, from a very hot June with a strong mid-summer storm thrown in mid-month, to a much cooler than normal July and August with two metro-area tornadoes on July 30. Precipitation ranged from very wet in July to below normal in August. So how did it average out? The maps below show the "departure from normal temperature" for June 1- August 31, as well as the "percent of normal precipitation" for the same period. Click the images for larger views.
One the temperature side, the Northern and part of the Central Plains and the Great Lakes regions experienced a very cool summer, with much of the Northeast also averaging somewhat below normal. Here in the Mid-South, the extremes of June and July ended up averaging out to about a degree below normal, though portions of northeast Arkansas were 2-3 degrees below normal.


As for precipitation, the Northeast was wet, along with parts of the Midwest, while southern Texas (which is still in a significant drought) and the Gulf Coast were below normal. Examining the Mid-South, the anomalously high precipitation amounts over northeast Arkansas explain the below normal temps, but most of the region was above normal for the summer.

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