The US experienced its 16th coolest summer(June-August) on record and seventh coolest August, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s(NOAA) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). While much of the West remained warmer than average, the majority of the nation had a cool summer. Meanwhile, eight named tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin broke a record for named storms during the month of August.
NOAA reports that the average temperature for the US from June-August was 71.1°
F(21.7°
C), which was 1.0°
F (0.6°
C) below the 1895-2003 mean, and the 16th coolest summer on record.
Nationwide, June—August was the 10th wettest summer, with dryness remaining in parts of the Southwest and northern Plains, but the southern region (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas) had its wettest summer on record.
Eight tropical systems in the Atlantic broke the record for the most named storms for any August. Six of those storms affected the US: Hurricane Alex brushed the Outer Banks of North Carolina; Tropical Storm Bonnie made landfall in Florida’s Panhandle; Hurricane Charley came ashore as a category four hurricane just north of Fort Myers, Fla., and affected much of the east coast; Tropical Storm Gaston affected the Carolinas and Virginia dumping as much as twelve inches of rain in parts of Virginia; Tropical Storm Hermine affected eastern Massachusetts and major Hurricane Frances moved westward across the Atlantic, eventually making landfall as a category two hurricane in Florida in early September.
This summer also brought weak El Niño-like conditions, as sea-surface temperatures increased throughout much of the central and east-central equatorial Pacific.
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