National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

July 2011 was a very warm and generally wet month across most of central and northeast South Dakota along with west central Minnesota.  Monthly average temperatures were anywhere from 1 to 5 degrees above normal.  The most notable temperatures were the average lows across the region which ranged from 2 to 7 degrees above normal.  Much of July was humid with dew points regularly in the 60s and 70s. In fact, several times dew points reached 80 degrees or higher at several locations.  Aberdeen tied for its highest dew point with 82 degrees.  Overnight lows were quite warm due in part to the high moisture in the air which allowed less heat to escape at night.  The high temperatures for the month were mostly in the upper 90s to the lower 100s with Kennebec reaching 105 degrees on the 19^th. The high humidity along with the hot temperatures brought a period of excessive heat to the area from July 15^th through July 20^th.  Heat Index readings were regularly in the 105 to 115 degree range through this time period.  During this time, Milbank reached a heat index of 120 degrees, Aberdeen reached a heat index of 121 degrees, while Leola reached 125 degrees.

The precipitation for July was above to much above normal in northeast South Dakota and west central Minnesota while it was below normal across parts of central and north central South Dakota.  In fact, a couple heavy rain events brought a very wet month to Aberdeen and Wheaton. Aberdeen had its fourth wettest July on record receiving 6.63 inches of rainfall which was 3.71 inches above normal.  Wheaton set the July record for the wettest month receiving a whopping 8.01 inches of rain. This amount was 4.90 inches above normal. With another wet month across northeast South Dakota and west central Minnesota, flooding continued to be a big issue across the area.