JULY 1-15, 2020 – SUMMERLIKE HEAT AND HIGH DEW POINTS WITH ONLY OCCASIONAL LIGHT RAIN AMOUNTS UPDATE FOR WEST ROCKVILLE MARYLAND
The heat and high dew points left from the tail end of June carried forward into the first half of the month of July. But not to the extreme that the official Washington DC DCA station has recorded, as their streak of 20 straight days of 90 max temps or greater is still in tact (June 26-July 15). Within that same period my station only reached a max temp of 90 or greater six times! From July 1-15, dew point temps remained moderate at the beginning and end of the period, with muggier values trending higher during the slightly hotter early mid-period. Light rains (1.09″) were spread out fairly evenly through the period, falling on 7 of the 15 days. There were only 2 thunderstorm days, 3 sunny/clear days and only 2 mostly cloudy days.
We now have a total of 1.09 inches of rain in July and 24.51 inches for the year through July 15. The minimum temperature for this period was only 66.6° on the 15th. During this latest 15 day period the highest temperature reached was 93.5° on the 5th. 6 days had max temps in the 90s while there were 7 days with min temps in the 60s.
Daily precip, max/min temperature values, general sky condition, and Peak Wind Gust (PWG) for each day of the period include:
7/1 0.15 85.4 68.1 Sunny, seasonably warm after early AM shower – 16 NE
7/2 0.00 88.9 67.6 Sunny, a bit warmer – 18 NE
7/3 0.00 92.9 70.5 Sunny, hot, dry – 21 NW
7/4 0.00 91.6 74.2 P Cloudy, hot, steamy evening – 13 NE
7/5 0.09 93.5 73.6 P Cloudy, hot, early evening light thundershower – 20 SW
7/6 0.24 93.3 72.4 P Cloudy, hot, early evening thundershower – 27 SW
7/7 0.25 87.1 69.4 M Cloudy, not as hot, light rain showers – 19 SE
7/8 0.00 91.1 74.1 P Cloudy, hotter, humid – 15 SW
7/9 0.00 88.6 71.6 P Cloudy, very warm – 13 S
7/10 0.06 88.2 73.8 P Cloudy, very warm, light shower – 15 NE
7/11 0.03 88.0 72.8 P Cloudy, very warm, light shower, breezy at times afternoon – 34 W
7/12 0.27 88.7 68.6 M Cloudy, very warm, early evening rain showers – 18 SW
7/13 0.00 87.4 67.3 P Cloudy, very warm – 17 W
7/14 0.00 87.4 69.6 P Cloudy, very warm, a bit less humid – 17 NW
7/15 0.00 90.6 66.6 P Cloudy, hot, more humid by evening – 22 SE
6 of the 7 measurable rainfall days fell during the middle part (July 5-12) of the period. The heat has turned on as we head into mid-July, with no end in sight through most of the remaining days of the month. Soil moisture has not become critically low yet, but if our heat wave keeps up for as long as some are saying, it could bear more continued close watching and concern.
The current temperature is 75.7 degrees at 0216 on July 16 with cloudy, warm, muggy skies. The temperature should be rising into the 90s once again today and for the next 10 days unfortunately.
Today’s featured image is of a typical cumulus-filled afternoon summer sky taken outside my Doctor’s office on Wednesday, July 1, 2020.