Summer 2009: One of the Coldest

Summer of 2009: One of the Coldest

The summer of 2009 will go down in the record books as one of the coldest across much of the central United States, including eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Temperatures were well below normal for much of the summer, with just a few days at or above 90 degrees sprinkled throughout the summer. Several records for cool temperatures were met or exceeded this summer. Also, the summer was drier than usual in June and July before several heavy rain events helped the Omaha and Norfolk areas return to closer to normal rainfall totals. (The Lincoln area remains drier than usual.) It is relatively rare for cool summers in the Plains area to also occur with dry conditions; most cool summers on record were also wet. This fact just points to how rare this summer was in being both cool and dry.

A few rankings and facts for the summer season (June, July, and August) of 2009 at the three main climate sites follow.

Omaha Area

Average Temperature	10^th coldest
Maximum Temperature	14^th coldest (tied with 1877 and 1985)
Minimum Temperature	8^th coldest
Cooling Degree Days	8^th fewest (tied with 1985)
Records Broken	5^th coldest July on record (tied with 1950)
	Fewest 90+ days in July (tied with 1891, 1915, and 1992)
	Second coldest July 4^th maximum temperature
	Daily record lows: 7/17, 7/18
	Daily record coldest maximum: 7/20

Lincoln Area

Average Temperature	15^th coldest
Maximum Temperature	18^th coldest (tied with 1982 and 1993)
Minimum Temperature	10^th coldest
Cooling Degree Days	14^th fewest
Records Broken	7^th coldest July on record (tied with 1904)
	Fewest 90+ days in July (tied with 1891 and 1950)
	4^th coldest July 4^th maximum temperature (tied with 1967)
	Daily record lows: 7/17, 7/18, 7/19, 8/31

Norfolk Area

Average Temperature	5^th coldest (tied with 1951 and 2004)
Maximum Temperature	6^th coldest (tied with 2004)
Minimum Temperature	11^th coldest
Cooling Degree Days	7^th fewest (note: several years in records with many missing days)
Records Broken	3^rd coldest July (tied with 1915)
	Second fewest 90+ days in July (tied with 1896, 1950, and 1958)
	Coldest July 4^th maximum temperature
	Daily record lows: 7/18 (tied with 1992), 7/31 (tied with 1893 and 1904)
	Driest July

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Summer 2009: One of the Coldest