PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...SUMMER WRAPUP NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY 1000 AM EDT MON SEP 05 2005 ...A MEMORABLE SUMMER FOR WESTERN NEW YORK... BEACHES...BOATS...AND AIR CONDITIONERS GOT QUITE A WORKOUT THIS SUMMER OF '05 AS OUR REGION EXPERIENCED ONE OF ITS WARMEST SUMMERS IN RECORDED HISTORY. IN FACT...IT WAS BUFFALO'S WARMEST SUMMER OF ALL TIMES...AND ROCHESTER'S WARMEST IN 32 YEARS AND 4TH WARMEST IN THE PAST 100 YEARS. THE WORD FOR THE SUMMER WAS CONSISTENCY. FEW IF ANY INDIVIDUAL DAILY RECORDS WERE SET...BUT THE UNUSUAL ASPECT OF THE SUMMER WAS ITS PERSISTENT WARMTH. EACH OF THE THREE MONTHS WERE SUBSTANTIALLY WARMER THAN USUAL...ALL IN EXCESS OF THREE DEGREES...AND THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED. THE OVERALL WEATHER PATTERN WAS VERY PERSISTENT ALL SUMMER. IT FEATURED A "BERMUDA" TYPE HIGH PRESSURE PUSHED FURTHER NORTH THAN USUAL...GENERALLY SETTLING OVER THE LOWER GREAT LAKES REGION AND INTERIOR NORTHEAST...WHERE THE TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES WERE GREATEST. SPRING WAS COOL AND DRY ACROSS WESTERN NEW YORK...BUT HEAT AND HUMIDITY SET IN BIG TIME BY THE SECOND WEEK OF JUNE. BUFFALO CAUGHT ITS FIRST 90 DEGREE DAY IN THREE YEARS ON JUNE 9...AND THIS WAS JUST THE BEGINNING. A BRIEF COOL SPELL AT MID MONTH WAS FOLLOWED BY MAJOR HEAT DURING JUNE'S FINAL WEEK. BUFFALO'S 95 ON THE 27TH WAS ITS HOTTEST READING IN TEN YEARS. JULY WAS A VERY WARM MONTH. 25 OF THE FIRST 26 DAYS WERE WARMER THAN NORMAL...AND THIS INCLUDED AN 18 DAY STRETCH OF 80S AND A RARE FOUR DAY 90+ STRING AT MID MONTH. HUMIDITY LEVELS WERE OPPRESSIVE...OVERNIGHT LOWS REMAINED IN THE 70S FOR EIGHT CONSECUTIVE NIGHTS FROM 12-19TH. AUGUST CONTINUED THE TREND WITH 18 OF ITS FIRST 19 DAYS REACHING THE 80S. TEMPERATURES FINALLY COOLED TO SEASONAL LEVELS DURING THE LAST THIRD OF THE MONTH. IN ADDITION TO THE HEAT...THE SUMMER WAS QUITE DRY AND SUNNY. AS IS COMMON IN SUMMER...THE BULK OF THE RAIN FELL IN SHORT INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS...THIS TIME ON JUNE 9-10 AND AGAIN ON JULY 27. MUCH OF THE REGION EVOLVED INTO MILD TO MODERATE DROUGHT BY LATE AUGUST...BUT THIS WAS ALLEVIATED BY A MAJOR DRENCHING FROM REMAINS OF "KATRINA" WHICH PASSED RIGHT ACROSS WESTERN NEW YORK ON THE 31ST. A GENERAL 3 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN WAS BENEFICIAL AND ENDED ANY DROUGHT CONDITIONS...AND ALSO BROUGHT THE SUMMER RAINFALL NUMBERS UP INTO THE NORMAL RANGE. HERE ARE SOME SPECIFICS FOR BUFFALO AND ROCHESTER... FOR BUFFALO... SUMMER AVERAGE TEMP... 73.2...WARMEST IN HISTORY. NORMAL 68.6 PREVIOUS RECORD 72.7 (1949). ALL THREE MONTHS IN TOP TEN WARMEST...JUNE (4TH)..JULY (3RD)...AND AUGUST (9TH). 77 OF 92 DAYS WARMER THAN NORMAL. 10 DAYS 90+...MOST SINCE 1988. (NORM 3) 29 DAYS 86+...MOST SINCE 1983. (NORM 16) 21 DAYS 70+ MINS...MOST SINCE 1921 (DOWNTOWN) (NORM 7). TWO OFFICIAL "HEAT WAVES" (3+ CONSEC DAYS OVER 90)...MOST SINCE 1988. SUMMER RAINFALL...11.01 INCHES. NORM 10.83. MOST FELL IN TWO DAYS...JUNE 9-10 (2.29) AND AUGUST 30-31 (3.00). SUNSHINE...63 PERCENT. NORMAL 65 PERCENT. 48 DAYS MOSTLY SUNNY. 16 DAYS MOSTLY CLOUDY. FOR ROCHESTER... AVERAGE SUMMER TEMP... 72.1...WARMEST SINCE 1973. NORMAL IS 68.5. 4TH WARMEST IN 100 YRS. REC 73.0 (1949). ALL THREE MONTHS IN TOP 20 WARMEST...JUNE (5TH)...JULY (20TH)...AND AUGUST (10TH). 68 OF 92 DAYS WARMER THAN NORMAL. 13 DAYS 90+...NORMAL 8. 34 DAYS 86+...NORMAL 22. 12 DAYS 70+ MINS...NORMAL 6. SUMMER RAINFALL...10.90. NORMAL 9.83. A THIRD OF THIS FELL IN ONE DAY...3.02 INCHES..AUG 30-31'S KATRINA. SAME SUNSHINE DATA AS BUFFALO. $$ MCLAUGHLIN