July Weather Rollercoaster

The 2014 summer has been wetter than average and featured slightly warmer than average temperatures.  So far, there hasn’t been any prolonged, extreme heat this summer in the Mid-Atlantic Region.  That’s in stark contrast to the torrid summers of 2010 – 2012 which broke all sorts of records.

Triple digit heat in the Nation’s Capital is relatively rare.  Residents may forget that before the three year stretch from 2010 through 2012, triple digit heat had not been felt in Washington, D.C. since 2007.  Before 2010, no summer since 2002 had recorded more than one day of triple digit heat.  That illustrates just how rare the type of heat Washingtonians experienced was during the summers of 2010 – 2012.  In fact, July 2012 had seven days of triple digit heat, breaking the record of six such days set back in July 1930.  

On the opposite end of the spectrum was July 2000.  That was the coolest July ever observed at National Airport, with a monthly average temperature of 74.6 degrees -- 5.4 degrees cooler than average.  

So far, July 2014 has been 0.5 degrees warmer than average.  The Nation’s Capital has also seen nearly 2” more rainfall than average this month.  We’ll have to see if August continues this month’s trend of being wetter and warmer than average.