National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

In short, it was a very cool wet summer across the Bismarck area. Temperatures for the 2009 summer season (defined as the months of June-July-August) at the Bismarck airport only averaged 65.1 degrees, which was nearly three degrees below 1971 to 2000 climatological average.  This ties 1928 as being the 14^th coolest in recorded history.  All three months during the season were below average. The most notable month was July, when the average temperature was only 66.9 degrees, which was 3.5 degrees below average. This ranked July of 2009 as being the 11^th coolest on record.  No 100 degree temperatures were experienced during summer season at Bismarck. The last time no 100 degree temperatures were experienced during the summer season was in 1998. Furthermore, there were only 5 days during the season when the mercury topped 90 degrees. On average, this feat is achieved on about 18 days during the summer. The highest temperature recorded during the season was 98 degrees on the 12^th of August. Conversely, the lowest temperature during the summer season was 35 degrees on both the 3^rd and the 9^th of June. 

Precipitation for the 2009 summer season at Bismarck airport was 11.67 inches which was 5.09 inches above the 1971 to 2000 average. Although this was not recording breaking precipitation, the figure below shows that this past summer was much wetter than what is typically experienced. This occurred in spite of the fact that August was dryer than average. A vast majority of the seasonal precipitation fell during June, when nearly 8 inches was reported. Additionally, there were 20 thunderstorm days reported this summer, with one instance of hail noted at the airport.

  ...THE BISMARCK ND CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM
6/1/2009 TO 8/31/2009...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1971 TO 2000
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1875 TO 2009

WEATHER         OBSERVED         NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE  DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)
                                         NORMAL
...............................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH             114   07/06/1936
LOW               30   06/02/1969
HIGHEST            98   08/12        MM      MM   100  08/30
LOWEST             35   06/09        MM      MM    37  06/16
                        06/03
AVG. MAXIMUM     77.3              81.9    -4.6   82.5
AVG. MINIMUM     52.8              54.2    -1.4   54.7
MEAN             65.1              68.0    -2.9   68.6
DAYS MAX >= 90      5              18.4   -13.4     20
DAYS MAX <= 32      0               0.0     0.0      0
DAYS MIN <= 32      0               0.1    -0.1      0
DAYS MIN <= 0       0               0.0     0.0      0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM        14.22   2001
MINIMUM         7.89   2008
TOTALS          11.67              6.58    5.09    7.89

DAYS >= .01        27              28.2    -1.2      37
DAYS >= .10        18              14.9     3.1      21
DAYS >= .50         5               4.8     0.2       3
DAYS >= 1.00        4               1.2     2.8       1
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL    5.77


SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL              T   2008
TOTALS             TR              0.0

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL     214
COOLING TOTAL     245
...........................................................

WIND (MPH)
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    41/320    DATE  06/26
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    52/310    DATE  06/26

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   65
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR           64
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             19
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          9

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     68

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM             20     MIXED PRECIP              0
HEAVY RAIN                7     RAIN                     13
LIGHT RAIN               33     FREEZING RAIN             0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                      2
HEAVY SNOW                0     SNOW                      0
LIGHT SNOW                0     SLEET                     0
FOG                      32     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE     2
HAZE                      2

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
...................................

 

 

 Williston

In short, it was a cool and wet summer across the Williston area. Temperatures for the 2009 summer season (defined as the months of June-July-August) at the Williston airport averaged 64.0 degrees which was in excess of 3 degrees below average. This ranked the 2009 summer season as being tied with 1899 for the 10th coolest summer in recorded history.  All three months during the season were below average. The most notable month was July, when the average temperature was only 65.9, which was 3.4 degrees below average. This ranked July of 2009 as being the 10^th coolest on record.  Furthermore, the month of August proved to be tied for the 23rd coolest on record, with a monthly temperature of only 65.3 degrees.  With such a cool summer, it is really no surprise that no 100 degree temperatures were experienced at Williston. The last time no 100 degree temperatures were experienced during the summer season was in 2001. There were only 9 days during the season when the mercury topped 90 degrees. On average, this feat is achieved on about 20 days during the summer. The highest temperature recorded during the season was 98 degrees on the 12^th of August. Conversely, the lowest temperature during the summer season was 30 degrees on the 2nd of June. 

 Precipitation for the 2009 summer season at Williston airport was 7.69 inches which was 1.57 inches above the 1971 to 2000 average. The Image below displays the summer season rainfall distribution at Williston. You can see that overall rainfall during the 2009 summer was in the above category. A majority of the rainfall occurred during the months of July and August, when 5.61 inches was measured. This made the month of July the 18th wettest July in recorded history. Similarly, August was the 23rd wettest month.  Additionally, there were 22 thunderstorm days reported this summer, with one instance of hail noted at the airport.

 ...THE WILLISTON ND CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM
6/1/2009 TO 8/31/2009...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1971 TO 2000
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1894 TO 2009

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)
                                          NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH             110   07/05/1936
LOW               26   06/04/1998
HIGHEST            98   08/12        MM      MM      101  08/01
LOWEST             30   06/02        MM      MM       35  06/08
AVG. MAXIMUM     77.8              81.2    -3.4     82.4
AVG. MINIMUM     50.1              53.1    -3.0     52.7
MEAN             64.0              67.1    -3.1     67.5
DAYS MAX >= 90      9              19.8   -10.8       21
DAYS MAX <= 32      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MIN <= 32      2               0.2     1.8        0
DAYS MIN <= 0       0               0.0     0.0        0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
TOTALS           7.69              6.12    1.57     4.42

DAYS >= .01        32              27.6     4.4       27
DAYS >= .10        19              13.7     5.3       12
DAYS >= .50         5               3.4     1.6        1
DAYS >= 1.00        2               0.8     1.2        0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL    1.40

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL              T   2008
TOTALS            0.0                 T

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL     282
COOLING TOTAL     216
.................................................................

WIND (MPH)
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    45/350    DATE  07/03
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    56/360    DATE  07/03

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   65
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR           64
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             23
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          5

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     64

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM             22     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN               12     RAIN                      16
LIGHT RAIN               39     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       3
HEAVY SNOW                0     SNOW                       0
LIGHT SNOW                0     SLEET                      0
FOG                      27     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      5
HAZE                      4

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
...................................

 

 

 

 

Temperatures for the 2009 summer season (defined as the months of June-July-August) at the Minot airport averaged 64.3 degrees which was 3.1 degrees below the 1971 to 2000 climatological average of 67.4 degrees.  This ranked the 2009 summer season as being the 21th coolest summer in recorded history.  All three months during the season were well below average. The most notable month was July, when the average monthly temperature was only 65.2 degrees, which was 4.4 degrees below the 1971 to 2000 average. This ranked the month as a tie for the 12th coolest July in recorded history.  There was one day during the summer when the max temperature hit 100 degrees.  This occurred on the 12th of August. However, in spite of this, there were only 3 days during the season when the mercury topped 90 degrees. The highest temperature recorded during the season was 100 degrees on the 12^th of August. Conversely, the lowest temperature during the summer season was 36 degrees on the 5th of June. 

...THE MINOT ND CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM
6/1/2009 TO 8/31/2009...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1971 TO 2000
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1905 TO 2009

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)
                                          NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH             109   07/11/1936
                        06/20/1910
LOW               24   06/16/1915
HIGHEST           100   08/12        MM      MM       97  08/31
LOWEST             36   06/05        MM      MM       40  06/10
AVG. MAXIMUM     76.3              79.5    -3.2     78.9
AVG. MINIMUM     52.3              55.3    -3.0     53.5
MEAN             64.3              67.4    -3.1     66.2
DAYS MAX >= 90      3                MM      MM        9
DAYS MAX <= 32      0                MM      MM        0
DAYS MIN <= 32      0                MM      MM        0
DAYS MIN <= 0       0                MM      MM        0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM         9.83   2008
MINIMUM         5.17   2001
TOTALS           5.68              7.55   -1.87     9.83

DAYS >= .01        28                MM      MM       33
DAYS >= .10        14                MM      MM       19
DAYS >= .50         3                MM      MM        8
DAYS >= 1.00        0                MM      MM        1
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL    0.85

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL            0.0   2001
TOTALS            0.0                 T

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL     253
COOLING TOTAL     214
.................................................................

WIND (MPH)
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    39/290    DATE  06/27
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    52/280    DATE  06/27

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR           62
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             20
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          9

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     65

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM             13     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN               11     RAIN                      10
LIGHT RAIN               34     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                0     SNOW                       0
LIGHT SNOW                0     SLEET                      0
FOG                      28     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      4
HAZE                      7

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
...................................
 

 

 

 

Jamestown