Here are the records that were broken or tied.

Waterloo: 96 (old record 96 in 1937)
Mason City: 99 (old record 95 in 1941)
Omaha: 99 (old record 99 in 1913/1951/2000)
Sioux City: 102 (old record 101 in 1898/2000)

Posted under Records, Temperatures

From NOAA:

Drought expands to cover nearly 63% of the Lower 48; wildfires consume 2 million acres

The average temperature for the contiguous U.S. during July was 77.6°F, 3.3°F above the 20th century average, marking the hottest July and the hottest month on record for the nation. The previous warmest July for the nation was July 1936 when the average U.S. temperature was 77.4°F. The warm July temperatures contributed to a record-warm first seven months of the year and the warmest 12-month period the nation has experienced since recordkeeping began in 1895.

Precipitation totals were mixed during July, with the contiguous U.S. as a whole being drier than average. The nationally averaged precipitation total of 2.57 inches was 0.19 inch below average. Near-record dry conditions were present for the middle of the nation, with the drought footprint expanding to cover nearly 63 percent of the Lower 48, according the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Click here for the rest of the story.

Posted under NOAA, Records, Temperatures

Iowa Tornadoes in 2012: 16
30 year avg.: 48
No tornadoes in June/July in Iowa
Last time no tornadoes reported in June/July was 1955.

JULY RANKINGS

Posted under Records, Severe Weather

It was another very hot day with sunshine all day and gusty southwest wind at 10-20 mph gusting to 30 mph. Dewpoints in the mid 60s help contribute to the temperatures topping 100. If dewpoints were in the 70s we probably would not have been this hot today.

Waterloo broke a record and Iowa City tied a record…details below.

Number of days 90+ this year.
Waterloo: 26
Dubuque: 19
Cedar Rapids: 24
Iowa City: 30

Number of days 100+ this year.
Waterloo: 5
Dubuque: 1
Cedar Rapids: 3
Iowa City: 5

Here are the Weather Tracker reports

Posted under Records, Temperatures

It was a HOT day with many locations 100+. Here are the highs from across the state.

Here are the records that were tied or broken across the state.

Waterloo:  103…old record 103 in 1934 & 1901
Des Moines: 105…old record 103 in 1941
Mason City: 99…old record 99 in 1940

Here is how close other locations got to the records.

Here are the Weather Trackers that had a high of 100+.

Belle Plaine…105
Cedar Falls…100
Denver…106
Grundy Center…103
Lowden…103 (record in 53 yrs of keeping records)
Monticello…100
Washington…102
Waverly…100
Williamsburg…105

Here are some other locations in states surrounding Iowa with high temperatures 100+.

Wisconsin
Fon du Lac…102
Sheboygan…101
Oshkosh…100
Wautoma…102
Waupaca…100

South Dakota
Yankton…106

Nebraska
Answorth…107
Alliance…103
Aurora…100
Beatrice…104
Broken Bow…100
Chadron…103
Fremont…103
Grand Island…102
Hastings…100
Lincoln…104
Nebraska City…103
Norfolk…104
Omaha…103
Scottsbluff…103
Sidney…103
Valentine…109

Missouri
Chillicothe…105
Columbia…105
Farmington…100
Jefferson City…102
Joplin…102
Kansas City…105
Kirksville…105
Quincy..105
St. Joseph…101
Sedalia…106
Springfield…100
St. Louis…106
Rolla…102

Illinois
Bloomington…101
Cahokia…105
Carobondale…102
Decatur…102
Lawrenceville…102
Lincoln…101
Mattoon…102
Moline…103
Peoria…104

Posted under Records, Temperatures

Today will be the last day where most locations will come close to 100 degrees for the high temperatures.

The record high in Hazleton was the warmest temperature he has reported since recording at that that location. He didn’t mention the length of time.

No records for the “Big 4″ were tied or broken.

Posted under Records, Temperatures

Here are the high temperatures on this July 4th.

R=Record Temp

Waterloo tied the record high today of 100 degrees set back in 1901.

CORRECTION: the NWS is now saying the record high temperature for Waterloo today is 109 in 1911 not 100 in 1901. So this means Waterloo did NOT tie a record today.

The last time Waterloo hit 100+ was July 19, 1995. It is also the 4th time Waterloo hit 100+ since 1988.

According to the NWS here are the last times the high temperature was 100+ degrees for the following:

Waterloo: July 19, 1995
Dubuque: August 1, 1988
Cedar Rapids: July 13, 1995
Iowa City: July 3, 2011

Posted under Records, Temperatures

It was not a very nice day to be outside on the last official day of Meteorological spring. Meteorological summer (June/July/August) begins tomorrow. The temperatures did not fluctuate much today with the clouds, light rain and drizzle. The rain gentle rain last night and today was well needed. Here is how much rain has fallen from this storm system:
The numbers below are updated as of the 5 pm precipitation totals. As you can see despite the recent rain events we will still end the month of May with a rain deficit.

Let’s take a look at the high temperatures today. It was much colder than what a typical last day in May would bring. The record cold high temperature was broken in Waterloo today. The old record was 55 in 2001…the high today was 54. No record was broken in Dubuque. The record was 47 in 1889 and the high today was 53. These are the only 2 locations in eastern Iowa the NWS has records of this type.

Posted under Precipitation Totals, Records, Temperatures

Some parts of Iowa saw the temperature reach 90 degrees while other parts of the state had highs only in the 60s. There two records broken today. Des Moines had a record high 90 degrees breaking the old record of 88 in 1949. The other record was in Sioux City. They reached 89 degrees breaking the old record of 88 in 1906.

Posted under Records, Temperatures

Yes it was a warm March but just how warm was it? Well, it was record breaking. Here are some of the numbers:

Waterloo Average Temp
2012: 51.1 F
Old Record: 46.8 F in 1910
Click here for more information.

Dubuque Average Temp
2012: 50.2 F
Old Record: 47.7 F in 1910
Click here for more information.

The charts above are from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

Here is a look at how the national numbers look.

Posted under Records, Temperatures