August 2014 Weather Summary

August was a month where I showed both discomfort and optimism. July was absolutely rotten. That weather carried on. Around mid-August, I noticed that the still uncomfortable temperatures were at least lower than what we had encountered in July. Combine that with an early Red-necked Grebe sighting, and it always felt like the end to our bad season was just around the corner.

Despite all of this, August actually scored worse than July in terms of temperature. There are a few reasons for this. The first four days carried on what our July was known for. Also, a lot of my optimism was based on forecasts rather than actual temperatures. Some of our hotter days ended up worse than expected. July averaged about a degree warmer for the highs than August. It was the low temperatures that gave August the lower score in this area. That should make sense. It seemed a little harder to cool the house down, and I struggled a bit more with early morning heat. While this was only about a degree difference between months, the nature of the Washingonian Weather Index puts a little more of the measure on the more significant deviation. In this case, that's the low temperature.

10 Worst Months Ever (Temperature)
Rank	Month	Year	Score
1	January	1950	38.30%
2	August	1967	45.80%
3	August	2013	48.51%
4	August	2014	49.48%
5	July	2009	49.89%
6	January	1949	49.90%
7	July	2014	50.46%
8	August	1977	52.71%
9	July	1958	52.71%
10	July	2004	52.88%

We also had a little more frequent showers this month. This helped a little. I thought we would just miss a bottom ten score among all months ever recorded, but I was expecting a bottom ten August. My prediction seems to have worked out. This was the 12th worst month ever recorded, but it was our 5th worst August.

August Summary
Date	High	Low	Rain	Score
8/1	84˚	59˚	Trace	40.72%
8/2	85˚	60˚	0.02"	42.93%
8/3	89˚	58˚	0"	27.03%
8/4	91˚	61˚	0"	21.74%
8/5	77˚	57˚	0"	37.47%
8/6	79˚	59˚	0"	33.43%
8/7	78˚	56˚	0"	37.96%
8/8	78˚	56˚	0"	37.96%
8/9	81˚	60˚	0"	30.65%
8/10	87˚	57˚	0"	29.82%
8/11	96˚	64˚	0.02"	29.49%
8/12	81˚	63˚	0.5"	58.43%
8/13	74˚	59˚	0.85"	67.22%
8/14	70˚	63˚	Trace	46.41%
8/15	76˚	62˚	0.04"	51.54%
8/16	78˚	60˚	0"	32.94%
8/17	82˚	59˚	0"	31.14%
8/18	85˚	60˚	0"	27.58%
8/19	81˚	60˚	0"	30.65%
8/20	71˚	57˚	0"	42.07%
8/21	70˚	52˚	0"	49.11%
8/22	75˚	56˚	0"	40.26%
8/23	82˚	57˚	0"	33.65%
8/24	77˚	56˚	0"	38.73%
8/25	84˚	58˚	0"	30.86%
8/26	88˚	60˚	0"	25.29%
8/27	84˚	61˚	0"	27.09%
8/28	74˚	58˚	0"	38.51%
8/29	73˚	59˚	Trace	49.14%
8/30	64˚	59˚	0.33"	77.23%
8/31	70˚	57˚	0.05"	64.53%
Average/Final Score				39.73%

For more information on how scores have been generated, visit my blog post at:

http://maritimeorca0.blogspot.com/2012/03/follow-up-weather-index-in-excel.html

The Month of August Over the Years
Rank	Year	Score		Rank	Year	Score		Rank	Year	Score		Rank	Year	Score
1	1954	62.35%		18	1978	52.28%		35	2007	46.42%		52	2011	42.43%
2	1948	61.37%		19	1950	51.34%		36	1983	46.11%		53	2003	42.43%
3	1962	59.16%		20	1956	51.21%		37	1991	45.88%		54	1977	42.34%
4	1960	57.80%		21	1963	51.13%		38	1989	45.37%		55	1992	42.30%
5	1975	56.67%		22	1952	50.50%		39	2010	45.31%		56	2006	42.22%
6	1957	56.55%		23	1949	50.17%		40	2004	45.18%		57	2005	41.32%
7	1953	56.36%		24	1999	50.16%		41	1974	44.88%		58	1994	41.08%
8	1964	56.20%		25	1969	49.73%		42	1996	44.76%		59	1971	41.05%
9	1968	55.71%		26	2008	49.42%		43	1988	44.70%		60	1961	40.55%
10	1980	54.17%		27	1965	48.62%		44	1993	44.61%		61	1998	40.49%
11	1951	53.97%		28	2000	48.29%		45	1984	44.30%		62	2013	40.49%
12	1973	53.59%		29	1970	47.83%		46	1972	44.13%		63	2014	39.73%
13	1955	53.21%		30	1982	47.67%		47	1990	44.07%		64	1981	39.58%
14	1959	52.95%		31	1966	47.64%		48	1987	43.93%		65	1986	38.27%
15	1976	52.74%		32	2001	47.40%		49	1958	43.87%		66	2012	36.72%
16	1995	52.54%		33	2009	47.25%		50	2002	43.78%		67	1967	32.10%
17	1979	52.41%		34	1985	46.89%		51	1997	43.45%

Keep in mind that scores are based off of averages. These values are likely to shift a little over time.

Year to Date (Through August) Over the Years
Rank	Year	Score		Rank	Year	Score		Rank	Year	Score		Rank	Year	Score
1	1953	68.26%		18	1971	63.80%		35	1973	62.37%		51	1989	61.27%
2	2010	68.07%		19	1961	63.78%		36	1996	62.33%		52	2002	61.20%
3	1999	66.69%		20	1962	63.75%		37	1970	62.28%		53	2004	60.75%
4	1954	65.76%		21	1981	63.69%		38	1991	62.27%		54	1969	60.65%
5	1983	65.65%		22	1980	63.68%		39	1972	62.24%		55	1965	60.63%
6	1964	65.62%		23	1986	63.59%		40	2006	62.12%		56	1977	60.58%
7	1984	65.61%		24	1993	63.25%		41	1982	62.04%		57	2005	60.54%
8	1959	65.28%		25	1997	63.07%		42	1995	62.03%		58	1992	60.13%
9	1955	65.03%		26	1957	62.94%		43	1963	61.97%		59	1979	60.02%
10	2011	64.88%		27	1976	62.89%		44	1988	61.89%		60	2014	59.92%
11	1978	64.35%		28	1998	62.86%		45	1950	61.73%		61	1949	59.87%
12	1960	64.23%		29	2001	62.84%		46	1987	61.71%		62	1951	59.77%
13	1968	64.22%		30	1990	62.84%		47	1956	61.61%		63	1967	59.49%
14	2012	64.20%		31	2007	62.68%		48	2003	61.47%		64	2013	59.33%
15	1966	64.13%		32	2008	62.61%		49	1994	61.37%		65	2009	57.59%
16	1974	64.09%		33	1952	62.53%		50	1958	61.30%		66	1985	57.46%
17	2000	63.84%		34	1975	62.46%