July 2012 Review...Warmer than normal weather continues

Another above normal temperature month, with all locations coming in several degrees warmer than what is typical for average temperatures for July. As the final numbers show, every site recorded a top ten warmest July, with Sault Ste. Marie reporting its second warmest July since consistent records began for that location way back in 1888.

Per the usual for summer, monthly rainfall was highly sporadic, owing to periodic widely scattered heavy-rain producing thunderstorms. In general, most of the area received below normal rain amounts. A notable exception was the far southwest and across western portions of Mackinac County in Eastern Upper, where end of the month heavy rains brought totals to above normal levels.

July Temperature Data:

**Sault Ste Marie (1888 - 2012)**
July Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date(s)	Coolest Temp/Date(s)	Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
70.5	65.3	+5.2	2nd Warmest	89 / 5th, 13th	52 / 11th	74.1 / 1921	57.4 / 1992

**Houghton Lake (1919 - 2012)**
July Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date(s)	Coolest Temp/Date(s)	Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
72.5	67.1	+5.4	Tied 3rd Warmest	95 / 4th, 6th	49 / 25th	74.4 / 1921	62.0 / 2009*

**Alpena (1916 - 2012)**
July Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date(s)	Coolest Temp/Date(s)	Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
71.0	67.4	+3.6	7th Warmest	95 / 23rd	47 / 11th	73.5 / 1921	61.3 / 1992

**Traverse City Airport (1897 - 2012)**
July Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date(s)	Coolest Temp/Date(s)	Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
74.4	69.0	+5.4	Tied 7th Warmest	98 / 16th	50 / 20th	76.8 / 1921	63.0 / 1965

**Gaylord** **Airport (1951 - 2012)**
July Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date(s)	Coolest Temp/Date(s)	Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
70.3	66.0	+4.3	8th Warmest	92 / 5th	48 / 11th	73.5 / 1955	61.9 / 1992

July Precipitation Data (inches):

**Sault Ste Marie (1888 - 2012)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Greatest 24-hr rainfall/date(s)	Days with measurable precipitation	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
2.11	2.86	-0.75	N/A	0.66 / 6th	11	7.23 / 1996	0.22 / 1906

**Houghton Lake (1919 - 2012)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Greatest 24-hr rainfall/date(s)	Days with measurable precipitation	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
4.81	2.76	+2.05	10th Wettest	1.54 / 3rd	10	8.09 / 1952	0.55 / 1989

**Alpena (1916 - 2012)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Greatest 24-hr rainfall/date(s)	Days with measurable precipitation	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
2.15	3.03	-0.88	N/A	1.41 / 25th	8	7.17 / 1975	0.22 / 1989

**Traverse City Cooperative Observing Station (1930 - 1993, 2001 - 2012)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
1.92	2.88	-0.96	N/A	6.85 / 1937	0.27 / 1981

**Gaylord Cooperative Observing Station (1940 - 2012)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
2.07	3.02	-0.95	4th Wettest	6.77 / 1952	0.52 / 2011

Gaylord, MI (APX): July, 2012 Monthly Observed Precipitation Valid at 8/1/2012 1200 UTC - Created 8/1/12 23:42 UTC

Gaylord, MI (APX): July, 2012 Monthly Percent of Normal Precipitation Valid at 8/1/2012 1200 UTC - Created 8/1/12 23:46 UTC

- all averages are calculated using the new 1981 - 2010 period

( ) = Consistent years of record; Record temperature data for Gaylord is a combination of Gaylord Airport (2001- 2012) and the Cooperative Observing Station records (1951-2001), Record precipitation data for Traverse City is a combination of Cherry Capital Airport (1930-1993) and the Cooperative Observing Station records (2001-2012)

- only rankings in the top 10 will be entered

* = Record occurred in multiple years; latest year shown

** = New all-time record high for the month

**THESE DATA ARE PRELIMINARY AND HAVE NOT UNDERGONE FINAL QUALITY CONTROL BY THE NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER. THEREFORE, THESE DATA ARE SUBJECT TO REVISION. FINAL AND CERTIFIED CLIMATE DATA CAN BE ACCESSED AT WWW.NCDC.NOAA.GOV.**

For additional climate information and atmospheric and oceanic features that drive the patterns across our area, please visit the following links:

Latest Central Pacific Ocean Temperature Trends Large Scale Atmospheric Blocking Features Local Climate Home Page

* Data for Traverse City is derived from a composite of observations taken at both Cherry Capital Airport and the cooperative observing station at Munson Medical Center. This data is for informational purposes only and does not meet climatological standards. This data set may include periods with missing data…particularly snowfall data from 1996-2001.

**Data for Gaylord is derived from a composite of observations taken at both Gaylord-Otsego County Airport and the cooperative observing station located near downtown Gaylord. This data is for informational purposes only and does not meet climatological standards. This data set may include periods with missing data and data that has been recorded from different observing points throughout history.

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office