National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

During Meteorological Summer (June 1 through August 31), La Crosse Municipal Airport was colder (coldest since 2004) and wetter (28th wettest) than normal.  The information below provides more details on these statistics.

Temperatures - Coldest Meteorological Summer since 2004

From June 1st through August 31st, La Crosse Municipal Airport had an average temperature of 70.8 degrees.  This was 1.0 degrees below the normal of 71.8 degrees.  It was the coldest summer since 2004 when the average temperature was 67.8 degrees. 

Although it seemed like a cold summer, it did not even make the top twenty coldest meteorological summers in La Crosse. The summer of 2008 will go down in the record books as the 58th coldest summer.  The coldest summer ever recorded was back in 1915 when the average temperature was only 65.5 degrees (5.3 degrees colder than this summer).

The table below contains the monthly temperatures and their departures from normal for the summer of 2008.

           Summer 2008 Temperatures
               in La Crosse WI

                  Average            Departure
   Month        Temperature         from Normal
   -----        -----------         -----------
   June        68.4 degrees        -1.2 degrees
   July        73.5 degrees        -0.5 degrees
   August      70.4 degrees        -1.2 degrees
 
   Summer      70.8 degrees        -1.0 degrees

Precipitation - 28th Wettest Meteorological Summer

From June 1st through August 31st, La Crosse Municipal Airport received 14.53 inches of precipitation.  This was 2.00 inches above the summer normal of 12.53 inches.  This was the 28th wettest meteorological summer.  The wettest summer occurred just last year when 20.32 inches of precipitation fell. 

During the first half of summer, 10.28 inches of precipitation fell.  This was just over 70 percent (70.8 percent) of the total precipitation during the summer of 2008.  This was 4.23 inches above the normal of 6.05 inches, and it made it the 8th wettest first half of a summer.  Since July 16th, only 4.28 inches of precipitation fell. This was 2.20 inches below.  After starting the summer with wet soils, the La Crosse area was classified as abnormally dry (D0) by late summer.

The table below contains the monthly precipitation totals and their departures from normal for the summer of 2008.

          Summer 2008 Precipitation
               in La Crosse WI

                Precipitation         Departure
   Month            Total            from Normal
   -----        ------------         -----------
   June         7.00 inches         +3.00 inches - 18th wettest
   July         6.84 inches         +2.59 inches - 15th wettest
   August       0.69 inches         -3.59 inches - 3rd driest
 
   Summer      14.53 inches         +2.00 inches - 28th wettest