September 2008 Weather In Review
The NCDC has released the final figures on temperature and precipitation for September 2008, and nationwide, last month was the 49th warmest and 38th wettest during the 114 years data has been kept. Here in Georgia, we had an average temperature of 74.4 degrees, slightly cooler than the 20th century average. For the entire 114 year period since 1895, the state’s temperature was right in the middle, both the 57th coolest and the 57th warmest September.
With the exception of the southern Great Plains area, most of the country was normal to slightly above normal, except for California, which had much above normal temperatures:
Georgia’s precipitation during September matches what I had already noted for Atlanta: the fifth driest on record. The entire state got less than normal rainfall, with the most rain falling in the triangle bounded by Clayton, Savannah and Macon. Statewide, 1.28 inches of precipitation fell in September, -2.72 inches less than the 1901-2000 average.
For the country as a whole, it was the 38th wettest September, with much of the rain caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike, and tropical storm Hanna. You can see that the lower Mississippi valley had close to record rainfall due to Gustav and Ike, while Hanna and the unnamed storm brought more than usual precipitation to the east coast. California had its driest September ever–reports are that they are now bringing in dowsers to find water–while Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida weren’t that far behind:
Year to date, Georgia is having its 28th driest January-September on record. However, that’s a great improvement from 2007, when the same time period was the fifth driest, and 2006 when it was the eighth driest.
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