PART II - Northern Ohio Summer Recap

Summer Recap - PART II

Summer of 2016-17 was the warmest on record in Cleveland and at many recording stations across northern Ohio.

Graphic Courtesy NWS Cleveland

Regarding how you define summer (see Part I in previous post), it was the warmest ever!

Summer temperatures versus average over the last 10 years. 2010 and 2012 were the closest to this past summer.

The top 10 warmest summers for historical perspective show five of the top ten warmest summers have occurred since 2000.

We typically remember past weather for its extremes not averages. Although we didn't break many daily records, the warmth was steady both day and night.

 Second most number of days at or above 85 degrees ever!

Very warm overnight lows.

Humidity levels measured by dew point wasn't as high as most thought. 2010 and 2011 featured more higher humidity days.

Relative cooler days were few and far between...

Our rainfall was well below normal for the first time since 2012, driest since 2002. Four of the last six summers have had above normal rainfall.

Many use the drought year of 1988 as the standard for which we measure very dry summers. Interestingly, this summer's rainfall was nearly identically to 1988.  Yet 2016 and 1988 didn't crack the top 10 driest.

Summer rainfall varied from place to place. Only Mansfield made it into the top ten driest on record. Cleveland 26th and Akron 35th.

The storm track took the majority of the rain and storms through the heart of the corn belt.

Purple colors indicate above normal rainfall

We forget that 2002 and 1991 were consistently drier than 1988 and 2016 even into the fall. This year, the rainfall deficit has improved with recent late September rainfall.

In my next post, I'll talk about how the above average Lake Erie water temperatures this summer compare to warm summers of the recent past and how that might impact lake effect snowfall.

WILL THIS WARM SUMMER LEAD TO A REPEAT OF LAST WINTER (MILD WITH LITTLE SNOW)...OR WILL CONDITIONS REVERT BACK TO THE WINTERS OF A FEW YEARS AGO? THE COMPLETE WINTER OUTLOOK COMING IN 4 WEEKS!

HERE IS A BIG HINT!