Summer 2011 Summary

A dry and hot Summer

The hottest July in over 50 years followed by a warm August and September resulted in a summer that was one and half degrees higher than average.  The 35.7°C on July 21st was the highest temperature we had seen in over 10 years.

Although the last half the summer was more or less average for precipitation it didn't make up for the very dry start to the summer that included the 7th driest July seen in the region.  The total precipitation was 208.9 mm compared to an average of 274.0 mm. 


This year's summer poll ended with 49% in the great catergory, 25% good, 14% OK, 5% bad, 4% total washout.  Although this summer was different than the last ones the results always seem to be same no matter what the weather.

Summary for Summer 2011:
Maximum Temperature 35.7°C
Minimum Temperature 3.5°C
Average Daily High Temperature 25.5°C (Long term average 24.2°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 14.1°C (Long term average 12.2°C)
Total Precipitation 208.9 mm (Long term average 274.0 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

Summer 2011 poll

Let's see what everybody thought of this year's warm and dry summer.

The poll is located at the top of the UW weather station blog.

August 2011 Summary

Another hot month with average precipitation

Another hot month coming in at 1.5 degrees warmer than average (the last time we had a colder than average one was back in March).  The warmth was pretty consistent with lots of days where the highs were over 24°C but it never got over 30°C. 

It was a pretty typical August in terms of precipitation, we got 79.7 mm which is within the average range for the month.  There were a couple of big days when we were hit by typical August convective storms like the 31.4 mm on the 9th or the 17.9 mm on the 14th.  After two dry months I think everyone's lawns and gardens will agree that this month made it a lot easier to survive.

The total precipitation for the year of 704.0 mm is still above the average for the end of August (596.0 mm).

Summary for August 2011:
Maximum Temperature 29.3°C
Minimum Temperature 11.3°C
Average Daily High Temperature 25.8°C (Long term average 24.7°C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 14.6°C (Long term average 12.6°C)
Total Precipitation 79.7 mm (Long term average 87.5 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

Cold tonight

With a forecast low of 1, we might see the lowest temperature since early May overnight.

PS Hopefully the August summary will be available soon, it is being worked on.