The average global temperature of July set highs — it was the warmest month on record since record keeping began in 1880.
The observed ocean surface temperature was the highest for any month in the 1880-2015 record period. The average temperatures over land were also above the average for the 20th century, ranking as the sixth-warmest July since 1880.
The July globally averaged land surface temperature was 1.73 degrees above normal. And so far, 2015 (the months of January through July) is at the all-time record warm temperature for the globe.
Regionally, however, southern Wisconsin’s mean temperature for July 2015 was about 2 degrees below the average for the 1971-2000 record period.
Our August temperature and precipitation is also below the average for the past 30 years.
Preliminary analysis looks like our summer mean temperature for this year will be below normal. We had five days with the temperature at or above 90. The outlook for September is for continued cool temperatures in our region.
The summertime precipitation for southern Wisconsin was below normal. There were four days in Madison when the precipitation was more than 1 inch. Though Madison is not in drought conditions, there is a short-term drought across southwestern Wisconsin and along the shore of Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin.