Average temp was 80.1 for the month, compared to 79.8 last year.
90.9 was the daily average max, 69.2 daily average minimum for the evening.
2012’s average annual temp (year-to-date) is 56.3, the average is usually 50.9
July 2012 rainfall = 2.86
July average = 4.18
(2012) Year-to-date rainfall measurements for Dayton = 17.3
Year-to-date-rainfall measurements average = 25.49
July 2012 will go down in the record books as the fourth hottest July ever recorded in Dayton according to the National Weather Service.
The average temperature for the month was 80.1. Last year, it was 79.8.
WHIO-TV Chief Meteorologist Jamie Simpson said the cause of the severe heat was the drought that damaged Midwestern crops. He said each day of high temperatures results in the ground heating up even more. The higher the temperatures, the more evaporation. Increased evaporation leads to dryness. These factors feed off each other, resulting in the conditions the Miami Valley experiencedlast month.
The dryness and the heat also forced the track of storms farther north, resulting in less rainfall.
Mike Gallagher, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said it is impossible to tell whether the entire year of 2012 will break records. So far the year-to-date average is 56.3 degrees, 5.4 degrees higher than usual.
The Climate Prediction Center expected the majority of Ohio to suffer from above-average temperatures and below-average rainfall during August. However, Simpson says this has changed slightly.
“The extreme heat is moving West,” he said. “And precipitation looks better. We’ll see more typical rainfall.”
Still, he expects there to be more 90 degree days in August. The average number of days in August that reach temperatures of 90 or above is four. For the month of July, that number is seven. July went far above that average with 19 days total this year.
Simpson said the average precipitation for August is 3 inches and the average high stays in the low 80s.
There were 2.86 inches of rainfall during the month of July, 1.32 inches less than the average of 4.18.
Simpson said that the increased rainfall later in the month did not improve the condition of the drought.
“It also did not make the drought any worse,” he said. “The drought is sustaining itself.”
The year-to-date rainfall measurement for the Dayton area is 17.3 inches. That is 8.19 inches less than the average rainfall of 25.49 inches at this time of the year.
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