Denton County’s weather during July turned out pretty normal, at least in temperatures, just not in rainfall.
Our average high was 95 degrees, within half a degree of the normal average high of 95.5. The average low temperature was 72.6, also within half a degree of the normal average low of 73.1. So, July’s day/night average temperature was 83.8, exactly .5 degrees cooler than July’s climatological normal of 84.3 degrees. We did get a respite the second half of the month, with 12 days in a row of below normal high temperatures, including five days in the upper 80’s! As of July 28th the hottest temperature was 103 on the 16th. The coolest morning low of 66 occurred on July 5th and 6th.
Rainfall was disappointing. Denton Enterprise Airport reported only three days of measurable rainfall; .08” on July 5th, .01” on the eighth and .69” on July 21st. Trace amounts were detected on July 6th, 17th, 22nd and 25th. Total monthly rainfall through July 28th was only .78”, a little better than half July’s normal rainfall of 1.58 inches. Still Denton’s year-to-date rainfall of 28.7” is 8 inches above normal for this point of the year, thanks to nearly 17 inches of rain in April and May combined.
Not unheard-of, but unusual; There were virtually no severe weather reports anywhere in North Texas.
The biggest weather story of the month was record-setting Hurricane Beryl, which formed as a tropical depression on June 28th, reached hurricane strength (74 mph winds) in less than 24 hours and intensified to a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 mph. After striking the Windward Islands in the western Caribbean, Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record July 2nd with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph. It was also one of the longest-lived tropical systems (14 days) before dissipating over Ontario, Canada.
The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting slightly warmer-than-normal temperatures for August with near-normal precipitation of 2.4 inches. More hot and dry weather is on the way.
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