Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

It's Hot! Rain Below Normal, Temperature Up

To say July was hot and dry would be a statement of the obvious.

According to John W. Teeter, local meteorologist, a scant 2.28 inches of rain fell during the seventh month of the year, while the normal amount should have been 4.25 inches. This left a shortfall of 1.97 inches.

And, with the dry July, the year's rainfall total is also in a deficit situation at 2.08 inches. Normally, Teeter said, this area receives 33.47 inches of rain by this time. However, only 31.39 inches has fallen to date.

It may be hard to believe, but it rained six days during July. The largest single day's amount was 1.53 inches on July 3.This left little moisture to fall for the remainder of the month.

And, the mean temperature was also considerably above normal, according to Teeter. The average daily temperature, combining the high and low each day, was 86.2 degrees. This is 5.5 degrees above the norm of 80.7 degrees.

Hard as it is to believe, there was a record low temperature set for July 9 as the mercury dropped to a frigid 79 degrees. Teeter said this is only a record for this particular day and not the month.

Getting back to the "hot" part, Teeter said, there were 17 days during the month when the mercury climbed into the triple digit range. The highest temperature reached during the month was 105 on July 29 and again on July 31.

The records for Prescott's three hottest summers saw 24 days of 100 plus heat in 1930 for July, and the temperature climbed to a scorching 119 on July 29, 1930. This, Teeter said, is the area's all time record high. In addition, the area only received 0.92 inches of rain.

In 1954, another blistering summer, there were 23 days of temperatures 100 and above, with 111 the highest recorded on July 17 and 18. This July saw 2.15 inches of moisture fall to earth.

Next on the list was the summer of 1980 when there were again 24 days of 100 degree or more temperatures. The highest temperature for July 1980 was 107, recorded on July 17. The area only received 1.30 inches of rain this year.

During July 1954, Teeter said, hundreds of acres of pasture and timberland were burned by wildfire. One major fire in the south part of the county jumped highway 4 and burned all the way to the county line.

However, by 1980, Teeter said, the area had more and better fire protection and only a few acres were lost to fire.

"We have been spoiled by the relatively mild summertime temperatures we have experienced the past 18 years," he said. Since Jan. 1, 1981, there have only been a total of 37 days with temperatures above 100 degrees through July 1 of 1998. This includes all the summer months, not just July.

"We can call 1998 our fourth hottest July. If the experience of 1930, 1954 and 1980 continues through the balance of the summer," he continued, "we can expect August to also be a real scorcher."