July is heat. Not the shimmering heat of the desert, but a cloying, humid heat that soaks the skin. Shirt collars wilt by 9 in the morning. The sun beats down with a palpable presence---almost overhead at the solar noon at the beginning of the month, and not much lower at it's end. Sea breezes still bring relief, although they are weaker than in June, and slowly weaken through the month. Temperatures do not vary much, with average temperatures rising by a tenth of a degree per day during the first week, with the rise slowing asymptotically towards its peak on July 24. Then, more than a month after the solstice, average temperatures peak and afterwards begin a slow, imperceptible decline.
With the seabreeze weaker, storms are more frequent, and they provide relief. Clouds gather and grow dark, the thunder rumbles, and a fat drop of rain plops down in front of your feet. Then another. And another. Suddenly, a current of rain falls down, and the temperature drops below the morning low. Ahhhhhhh! If the storm is early enough, the sun returns bringing back steamy heat. If the storm is late, a calm drippy night lies ahead, with temperatures staying constant or slowly rising as night goes on.
Tropical systems affecting us in July are rare. They do happen on occasion, but not nearly as often as the last week of August of the first half of September. We wait for action.
Date..............actual..............normal................departure.............notes
July 1...........72.3 / 85.8.......74.1 / 89.0...........-2.5
July 2...........73.6 / 86.5.......74.1 / 89.1...........-1.5
July 3...........73.0 / 86.2.......74.2 / 89.2...........-2.1
July 4...........73.8 / 87.4.......74.3 / 89.3...........-1.2
July 5...........74.7 / 91.4.......74.4 / 89.4..........+1.1
July 6...........76.8 / 89.2.......74.5 / 89.5..........+1.0
July 7...........74.5 / 88.5.......74.6 / 89.6...........-0.6
July 8...........76.5 / 81.9.......74.6 / 89.6...........-2.9....................0.02" rain
July 9...........75.6 / 90.0.......74.8 / 89.7..........+0.5....................0.03" rain
July 10.........74.5 / 89.6.......74.8 / 89.8...........-0.2
July 11.........74.3 / 89.1.......74.9 / 89.8...........-0.6
July 12.........75.2 / 90.0.......75.0 / 89.9..........+0.1....................last day of early summer
July 13.........78.1 / 94.5.......75.0 / 90.0..........+3.8....................first day of high summer
July 14.........78.1 / 90.0.......75.1 / 90.0..........+1.5
July 15.........71.2 / 80.4.......75.1 / 90.1...........-6.8....................2.62" rain
July 16.........74.5 / 81.7.......75.1 / 90.1...........-4.5....................0.08" rain
July 17.........75.9 / 85.8.......75.2 / 90.1...........-1.8
July 18.........72.9 / 85.1.......75.2 / 90.1...........-3.6
July 19.........70.7 / 89.2.......75.2 / 90.1...........-2.7
July 20.........73.4 / 94.8.......75.3 / 90.0..........+1.4
July 21.........77.0 / 91.8.......75.3 / 90.0..........+1.7
July 22.........76.8 / 91.9.......75.3 / 90.0..........+1.7
July 23.........75.4 / 89.8.......75.3 / 90.0...........-0.0
July 24.........76.3 / 91.4.......75.4 / 90.0..........+1.1.......highest daily average temperature / last day of high summer
July 25.........75.7 / 93.0.......75.4 / 89.9..........+1.7.......first day of late summer
July 26.........71.6 / 88.5.......75.3 / 89.8...........-2.5....................1.72" rain
July 27.........73.0 / 86.9.......75.3 / 89.7...........-2.0....................0.32" rain
July 28.........71.4 / 87.6.......75.3 / 89.7...........-3.0
July 29.........75.4 / 89.4.......75.3 / 89.6...........-0.0
July 30.........75.9 / 93.9.......75.2 / 89.5..........+2.5
July 31.........77.7 / 91.8.......75.2 / 89.4..........+2.0
Highs
40s.........4
50s.........20
60s.........33
70s.........46
80s.........69
90s.........40
Lows
20s.........4
30s.........15
40s.........27
50s.........49
60s.........36
70s.........78
80s.........3
Freezes.......6
Record daily rainfall July 15, 3.22" officially. Wettest St. Swithun's day on record! Also 6th heaviest daily rainfall recorded in July, and heaviest daily rainfall in July since July 13, 1978.
