Summer

Much like this past July, August was a hotter and drier month than normal. Despite a June with rather close-to-normal numbers, the two most recent months brought the summer temperature and precipitation to top-10 levels for hot and dry conditions. More on summer ’22 later in this report, but first to discuss is a record hot and quite dry August.

The August average temperature of 77.4° was 3.8° above the 1991–2020 normal, ranking as the hottest on record. Eight of the ten warmest Augusts since 1895 have occurred since 2001. The average maximum of 88.5° was 4.7° above normal, the hottest on record, while the average minimum of 66.2° was 2.9° above normal, tied for 5th warmest. North Jersey averaged 75.7° (+3.8°, warmest on record), the south 78.4° (+3.8°, warmest on record), and the coast 77.9° (+3.2°, 3rd warmest).

Statewide, August precipitation averaged 2.61”, which is 1.96” below normal, ranking as the 22nd driest. The north came in at 2.31” (-2.25”, 18th driest), south 2.82” (-1.75”, 29th driest), and coast 2.54” (-2.06”, 25th driest). As the map shows, virtually the entire state had a monthly total below the statewide 4.57” normal. Exceptions were found in isolated west central and central coastal areas where several storms quickly deposited hefty totals. Less than half the normal monthly rainfall fell in a good portion of the north and in scattered areas of the south and north coast.

As reported multiple times during the first half of 2022, the day-to-day weather and overall climate of the Garden State have varied frequently, exhibiting lots of variability and never “locking” into a given pattern for an extended period of several weeks or longer. Such was the case this June, making it difficult to define any conditions that dominated. June was somewhat drier than average, but eight events brought over an inch of rain somewhere within the state. It was also dry enough at one point for a wildfire to scorch over 13,000 acres of the Pine Barrens. Low temperatures fell into the upper 30°s and low 40°s at multiple locations on the 20th, yet three days earlier, the majority of the state saw highs in the low to middle 90°s. “Non-descript” seems the best way to sum things up.

Statewide, rainfall averaged 3.44”. This is 0.86” below the 1991–2020 normal and ranks as the 61st driest of the 128 Junes since 1895. The north received 3.59” (-1.02”, 61st driest), the south 3.39” (-0.75”, 61st driest), and coast 2.90” (-0.95”, 54th driest). As the map shows, the far south was driest, continuing a pattern seen in recent months. The June 30th U.S. Drought Monitor map has the bulk of the southern area seen on the Figure 1 map receiving less than 4.00” for the month classified as “Abnormally Dry” (D0). This rating is also a function of both low streamflow and ground water levels. Further north, pockets of above-average rainfall surrounded a below-average central region that has yet to have prolonged enough water deficits to qualify for D0 status.

Wow, what a month. July 2021 provided a never-ending cascade of weather events, including a tropical storm, a record-tying number of tornadoes, large hail, flash floods, hot days, chilly nights, smoke-filled skies, and on the last day of the month, perhaps the nicest day of the summer. The statewide average precipitation of 7.59” was 2.88” above the 1991–2020 normal and ranked 8th wettest of all Julys back to 1895. It was the wettest July since 1975 and second wettest in almost 50 years. The northern portion of the state averaged 8.16” which was 3.44” above normal. The south averaged 7.36” which was 2.62” above normal.

The average temperature of 75.8° was 0.4° above the 1991–2020 normal, but 1.9° above the 1895–2021 average. This ranked as the 24th warmest July since 1895. 13 of the 25 warmest Julys in the past 127 years have occurred since 2002. The nine July tornadoes is the most in a month since official records began in 1950. Tropical Storm Elsa was the earliest fifth storm of any season on record in the Atlantic basin. Read on for details on this potpourri of weather happenings.

August joined the chorus of much warmer-than-normal months experienced throughout most of 2020 to date across the Garden State. Six of the eight months have ranked among the top 10 warmest for the 126 years beginning in 1895. Only April and May are outliers and, in fact, each of them had below-average temperatures. With a mean of 75.5°, August tied with 2001 and 1955 as the 6th warmest. This is 2.5° above the 1981–2010 mean. Eleven of the warmest 17 Augusts have occurred since 2001. The mean maximum of 84.8° tied for 19th warmest at 1.5° above normal, while the mean minimum of 66.1° was 3.4° above normal and ranked 4th warmest.

Statewide precipitation averaged 6.04”. This is 1.94” above normal and ranks as the 26th wettest August on record. Above-average totals occurred in northern (6.02”), southern (6.10”), and coastal (5.50”) climate divisions. The southern division (Mercer-Middlesex-Monmouth counties and south, except a narrow coastal division) saw a range from the driest area in Monmouth and parts of Mercer counties and a very wet area in Salem and Gloucester counties.

July 2018 had a classic variety of summer weather. There was: 1) an ongoing heatwave to begin the month; 2) dry conditions for the most part in the first half of the month; 3) some warm, exceedingly humid conditions with widespread, at times heavy, showers the second half of the month (courtesy of the subtropics); and 4) some “top 10” sunny dry days following several cold front passages (thank you Canada).

The average statewide July temperature was 76.4°. This is 1.8° above the 1981–2010 average and ranks as the 13th warmest July in 124 years of records (2.6° above the full period of record average). Eleven of the 18 warmest Julys since 1895 have occurred in the past 20 years (since 1999). The average daily maximum temperature across the state was 87.2°, which is 2.2° above average and ranks as the 15th warmest on record. The 65.6° average minimum was 1.4° above the 1981–2010 average and comes in as the 17th warmest.

Statewide, August precipitation averaged 5.63”. This was 1.53” above the 1981–2010 average and ranked as the 32nd wettest since 1895. It was the wettest August since the record wettest month in 2011. As is often seen in the summer, the majority of the precipitation fell in scattered showers and thunderstorms. This resulted in a wide range of monthly totals around the state, with some serious flash flooding occurring in several locations when moisture ladened storms parked themselves over an area for multiple hours. Where storms missed time and time again, rainfall totals were below average. The northern NJ climate division (Hunterdon, Somerset, and Union counties northward) saw their 10th wettest August on record, with an average of 8.28” falling. This is 4.17” above average. Since 1990, only August 2011 was wetter in this division.