Virginia July 2010 Temperature and Precipitation Records

The official statistics for the Commonwealth from July 2010 were released today from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. Virginia recorded its 5th hottest and 10th driest July on record, but much of the central Virginia region had its hottest July ever, including Richmond. However, the May through July average temperature for Virginia is the hottest on record. Much of the eastern and Southeast U.S. had abnormally hot and dry weather in July, while the Plains and upper Midwest dealt with heavy rain and severe weather events that led to wetter-than-average conditions and either average or slightly warmer-than-average temperatures.
Why was there such a discrepancy from the middle of the country to the East? Persistent high pressure plagued the southeast and eastern U.S. most of July, with storm tracks moving from the Plains into the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes. Virginia, as we well know from our current drought conditions, was bypassed by most of these storm systems. The national average temperature for the contiguous U.S. was the 17th warmest on record.