Average temperature was 73.5 degrees F. Normal is 70.2. The month ranked 11th warmest since 1892. The hottest August by average temperature was in 1947 at 77.7. August 2016 was 5.4% cooler than that.
The normal 8-month average temperature is 49.6. Year to date the average temperature is 52.6, about 6% warmer than normal due to the El Nino, which ended with the April-May-June measuring period. The warmest full year on record by average temperature was 2012, at 52.8. The 8-month year to date average temperature in 2012 was 55.6, 5.7% warmer than the 2016 year to date. The May-June-July Oceanic Nino Index value has fallen to 0.2.
August 2016 was the second wettest on record with 7.97 inches of rain. Normal is 3.05. Year to date 31.54 inches of rain have fallen. Normal is 22.74. We're cutting grass.
Cooling degree days totaled 274 in August, 45% above the normal 189. By CDD August 2016 was tied for 13th warmest August on record. The warmest August by CDD occurred in 1947 with 404 CDD. August 2016 was 32% lower than that.
Year to date CDD totals 831, 36% higher than the normal 612 for the year to date. The record for highest annual CDD was set in 1921 at 1200, for lowest annual CDD in 1992 at 316. Normal annual CDD is 694. Year to date CDD is already almost 20% above the normal annual, with fewer than 100 CDD normally added in the remaining four months of the year. Air conditioning has been more than welcome this summer.
