A Look Back On Summer

With the start of fall right around the corner, I figured it would be a good time to give a recap of summer. The maps below depict departure from normals for both temperatures and rainfall. I want to point out that the temperature map is for June 1 through August 31...instead of June 21 through September 21.





TEMPERATURES
Most of the state of Virginia was warmer than normal for this summer (even though it didn't feel like it). A lot of this can be attributed to the exceptionally hot weather we experienced in June - especially early in the month.

RAINFALL
You can see which areas were most impacted by the remnants of Fay and Hanna. There is a narrow stripe of counties west of I-95 that ended up above normal for rainfall. Otherwise, most of the state received below normal rainfall for summer.

CPC Releases 3-Month Outlook

The Climate Prediction Center has issued an updated 3-month forecast for the U.S. for the period October through December. Below is the forecast depiction of both precipitation and temperature, as they relate to seasonal normals. The Areas marked with an "A" indicate above normal conditions, while areas marked "B" indicate below normal conditions. All other areas are marked "EC", meaning equal chances of above or below normal conditions.

PRECIPITATION

TEMPERATURE

Zach

Suddenly Quiet In The Tropics

After an explosion of storms in the tropics over the past few weeks, the crickets are now chirping. However, don't be deceived by the lull in storm activity - hurricane season doesn't end for another month and a half. As always, we will keep a close eye in the tropics and keep you posted.

I wanted to share with you an amazing website that I have found. This is the most comprehensive collection of historical hurricane tracks that I've seen to date. To show you an example, here are the tracks of Dennis, Gaston and Isabel:

Just for fun, I decided to plot every hurricane in the database. What a mess!

Anyway, here is the link to the website so you can plot your own storms. Be patient at first - it takes a long time to load up all the data. Enjoy!

http://maps.csc.noaa.gov/hurricanes/viewer.html