August is a slow, sluggish month. Sometimes I think it is the longest month of the year. The days shorten steadily, yet temperatures do not respond much. Nighttime temperatures barely fall at all. Daytime highs fall nearly twice as much as nighttime lows--more than 2 degrees, vs 1.
And yet there are some changes compared to July. August is our rainiest month of the year, according to our new climate normals for 1981-2010, that honor previously belonging to September. And towards the end of the month, there is a change to the quality of light--by the end of August the sun fails to reach 70 degrees in altitude, even at solar noon. And tropical activity picks up markedly as August wears on.
August got to a good start this month, with 3.77" of rain in the home gauge before 4 a.m. Not a drought buster, but a drought denter, yes! It was our heaviest rain at home since 3.82" on August 31, 2009. Officially at KSSI there was 2.72", not a daily record.
Emily was not a factor. Irene won't be much of one besides marine influence.
Date..............actual..............normal................departure.............notes
Aug 1...........72.3 / 83.5.......75.2 / 89.3...........-4.3.....................3.77" rain
Aug 2...........74.7 / 88.0.......75.2 / 89.3...........-0.9
Aug 3...........74.5 / 90.5.......75.1 / 89.3..........+0.6
Aug 4...........77.9 / 95.4.......75.1 / 89.3..........+4.4
Aug 5...........78.3 / 90.7.......75.0 / 89.2..........+2.4
Aug 6...........78.4 / 89.1.......75.0 / 89.1..........+1.7
Aug 7...........78.3 / 94.6.......74.9 / 89.1..........+4.4
Aug 8...........77.2 / 94.5.......74.8 / 89.0..........+3.9
Aug 9...........74.5 / 94.6.......74.8 / 89.0..........+2.7.....................0.01" rain
Aug 10.........73.4 / 92.7.......74.8 / 88.9..........+1.2
Aug 11.........75.9 / 96.1.......74.7 / 88.8..........+4.2
Aug 12.........73.4 / 96.1.......74.7 / 88.7..........+3.0.....................0.03" rain
Aug 13.........71.2 / 89.6.......74.7 / 88.6...........-1.2.....................0.40" rain
Aug 14.........72.5 / 93.0.......74.7 / 88.5..........+1.1.....................0.29" rain
Aug 15..........74.3 / 92.5......74.7 / 88.4..........+1.8
Aug 16..........70.7 / 89.8......74.6 / 88.3...........-1.9
Aug 17..........72.0 / 88.0......74.6 / 88.2...........-1.4....................0.11" rain
Aug 18..........75.2 / 88.7......74.5 / 88.1..........+0.6
Aug 19..........72.1 / 87.8......74.5 / 88.0...........-1.3
Aug 20..........75.2 / 88.0......74.5 / 88.0..........+0.3
Aug 21..........76.6 / 88.9......74.4 / 87.9..........+1.6
Aug 22..........76.3 / 93.9......74.3 / 87.7..........+3.6
Aug 23..........75.6 / 87.1......74.2 / 87.6..........+0.4
Aug 24..........75.7 / 88.5......74.2 / 87.5..........+1.2
Aug 25..........72.7 / 89.2......74.1 / 87.4..........+0.2....................0.02" rain
Aug 26..........73.6 / 87.7......74.1 / 87.2..........+0.0....................0.28" rain..........29.66" (1004.5 mb)
Aug 27..........74.7 / 95.4......74.0 / 87.1..........+4.5....................29.58" (1001.7 mb)
Aug 28..........74.5 / 91.0......73.9 / 87.1..........+2.2....................29.66" (1002.9 mb)
Aug 29..........73.0 / 90.1......73.9 / 87.0..........+1.1
Aug 30..........75.2 / 88.3......73.8 / 87.0..........+1.3
Aug 31..........72.1 / 87.4......73.7 / 86.9...........-0.5....................0.32" rain
Highs
40s..........4
50s.........20
60s.........33
70s.........46
80s.........70
90s.........69
100s.........1
Lows
20s..........4
30s.........15
40s.........27
50s.........49
60s.........36
70s........104
80s...........8
Freezes.......6
A new record high was set on August 7, 98 degrees. This beat the old record of 97 set in 1984 and tied in 2008.
The record high for August 9 was tied, 97 degrees. This tied the old record of 97 set in 1972.
A new record high was set on August 11, 101 degrees. This beat the old record of 98 degrees set in 1968.
A new record high was set on August 15, 97 degrees. This beat the old record of 96 degrees set in 1948.
Since records on St. Simons Island began on August 12, 1948, this was the oldest surviving record.
A new record high was set on August 27, 99 degrees. This beat the old record of 98 degrees set in 1998. This is also the hottest day so late in the season.
We had a surprise rainshower in predawn hours of August 17 at 5:00 - 5:30 a.m. with 0.11". Not bad for 0% chance of rain! Not a droughtbuster by any means but welcome!
Also, the daily temperature norms have come out for St. Simons Island. A mild surprise was that January lows have been lowered. We have a good stretch of days with an average low of 42. The previous coldest average lows were 43. I await with interest the average temps to the tenth of a degree being released on the Southeastern Regional Climate Center website.
All other seasons of the year were revised upwards. We now have a long stretch of average lows of 76 and our highest average daily lows were previously 75, and the hottest average high of 91 has been expanded considerably.
August 19 marks the first day of being an hour or more shorter than the summer solstice. We are actually 1 hour 1 minute shorter this day. From now through the end of October our days will shorten rapidly. Temperatures will take longer to respond.
Hurricane Irene did not have much impact on St. Simons Island. At home we had 0.30" of rain on August 25-26. Breezy winds but nothing worth recording. Highest official sustained wind was 20 mph on August 25 and highest gust was 33 mph on August 26. Storm surge was 2.3 feet.
