Monthly Archives: August 2017

NYC Monthly Summary: July 2017

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July was a month of extremes in New York City. It delivered five days with temperatures in the 90s and the city’s third heat wave of the season. However, it also produced a few unseasonably cool days. On July 14, the high only reached 73°F, tying the record low maximum temperature for the date that was set in 1963. The average high for the date is 84°F. Nonetheless, the heat and the chill balanced each other out in the end. The city’s mean temperature for the month was 76.8°F which is only 0.3°F above average.

July is usually the city’s wettest month, but this year precipitation was slightly below normal. Only eight of thirty-one days produced measurable rainfall. Overall, 4.19 inches was recorded in Central Park. Of this total, 1.78 inches (42% of the total) fell in a single day. On average, the city gets 4.60 inches for the entire month of July.

Credit: The Weather Gamut

Tropical Storm Emily Soaks Florida’s Gulf Coast

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Tropical Storm Emily, the fifth named storm of the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season, made landfall at Anna Maria Island in Tampa Bay, FL on Monday morning. It slammed the Sunshine state’s west coast with heavy rain and winds measured up to 45 mph.

According to the NWS, Valrico, FL, a few miles east of Tampa, saw 8.19 inches of rain. Widespread flooding was reported across the region and Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for 31 counties.

Most land-falling tropical storms come with a few days warning, as they develop over the ocean before moving toward populated areas. Emily, however, sprung up very quickly. It formed as the result of an out-of season cold front stalling out over the extremely warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico near Florida’s west coast.

Moving across the Florida peninsula, away from the warm waters that fueled it, the storm weakened quickly and was downgraded to a tropical depression. It is forecast to travel northeast out into the Atlantic Ocean. No major impacts are expected along the Eastern Seaboard, but rip currents will be an issue for beachgoers over the next few days from Florida to the Carolinas.

TS Emily moves over central Florida. Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES