Dry weather continued to plague the Northeast during August. The regional average precipitation amount was 3.22 inches or 83% of normal. New Jersey was the only state that received a slight excess with 117% of normal. Vermont was the driest of the twelve states with 55% of normal. This summer (June-August), there was only an average of 8.48 inches of rainfall in the Northeast (73% of normal). This makes it the 4th driest summer on record and the driest since 1966.
Temperatures averaged just 0.1 degrees cooler than normal this month. All the northeast states had monthly averages that were quite close to normal, ranging between 0.4 degrees cooler than normal to 1 degree warmer than normal. The summer season averaged 1.9 degrees warmer than normal for the 11th warmest summer on record. Massachusetts reported their 2nd warmest summer in 105 years of record.
Monthly Summary of State Temperature and Precipitation Averages.
Maximum Temperature Records (degrees F) City Date New Previous National AP, DC (tie) 1st 98 98 in 1980 Atlantic City, NJ AP 1st 96 95 in 1983 Atlantic City, NJ Marina 1st 94 92 in 1957 Erie, PA 1st 98 92 in 1933 Beckley, WV (tie) 7th 86 86 in 1980 Beckley, WV (tie) 13th 88 88 in 1995 Huntington, WV 13th 99 97 in 1944 Parkersburg, WV 13th 97 96 in 1988 Wilmington, DE (tie) 17th 94 94 in 1968 Harrisburg, PA (tie) 17th 97 97 in 1965 Caribou, ME (tie) 26th 86 86 in 1992 Minimum Temperature Records (degrees F) City Date New Previous Baltimore, MD 10th 54 58 in 1964 Montpelier, VT (tie) 10th 42 42 in 1953 Beckley, WV (tie) 10th 47 47 in 1963 Elkins, WV 10th 46 47 in 1989 Elkins, WV (tie) 31st 39 39 in 1976