43
July ’11 was hotter than average in the Valley
YOUNGSTOWN
There were six days in July in which the temperature reached at least 90 degrees, including 97 degrees July 21 and 98 degrees the day after.
Also, last month had five other days with a high temperature reaching 89 degrees.
During an average July in the area, there are zero days in which the high temperature reaches at least 90 degrees.
Overall, the average temperature last month was 4.9 degrees higher than a typical July in the area.
At times, it seemed as if it couldn’t possibly get any hotter.
Yet last month wasn’t even among the 10 warmest Julys in the Mahoning Valley, according to temperature records kept by the National Weather Service going back to 1897.
The average temperature in the Valley last month was 74.8 degrees, just 0.2 of a degree from No. 10 on the list, 75 degrees in 1936. The warmest July on record is 77.3 degrees in 1934.
Last month was among the top-five warmest Julys in Cleveland, Akron- Canton, Mansfield and Toledo with temperatures ranging from 76.5 degrees to 78.8 degrees, said Mark Adams, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.
“I’m not sure what went wrong with Youngstown or what went right, depending on how you look at it,” he said about last month not being among the Valley’s top-10 warmest Julys. “Youngstown had cooler nights to make up the difference in this case to keep it out of the top 10.”
While other Ohio cities had greater than average rainfall amounts for July — including 7.42 inches in Cleveland — the Valley’s precipitation amount last month was below average.
Only 2.93 inches of rain fell in the Valley last month. That’s 1.17 inches below normal.
“Everybody ended up above normal except Youngstown,” Adams said.
Even with below average rainfall last month and in June, only 2.05 inches, this is third-wettest year through the first seven months.
The Valley has 32.49 inches of precipitation during the year’s first seven months. The wettest seven months of a year is 1956 with 33.89 inches followed by 1950 with 32.82 inches, according to weather service records.
As for August, Adams said, there will be “a lot of heat and a chance for more-than-average precipitation.”
The average August temperature in the Valley is 68.4 degrees with 3.43 inches of rain.