BLOG: Has it REALLY Been a Cool, Wet Summer?

So, the Summer of 2014 has been unusually cool and wet, right?? Part of that statement is true, depending on where you live. In some parts of the Valley, it HAS been wetter than average since June 1. But temperatures? When we look at the average since June 1...it's really not much of a story at all.Let's take a closer look at the numbers. At the Youngstown-Warren Airport (the OFFICIAL reporting station for our area), the stats since June 1 look like this: Notice that at the airport, rainfall has been almost EXACTLY average since the 1st of June. Also notice, temperatures have been slightly ABOVE average for the 52 days as a whole.On the subject of precipitation, amounts have been quite variable in the WFMJ viewing area...which is typical of Summer. Some places get a couple of soaking storms that drive up rain totals locally. In some communities is HAS been a wet Summer. A sampling of rain totals: You can also see what areas have been wettest since early June on this map, which shows satellite-estimated totals:   Notice the wet spots in Mercer and Columbiana counties.Temperature wise, the perception is certainly out there that this has been a "cool" Summer. I think this is mostly due to the lack of sustained hot periods and the lack of 90+ temperatures. AND, July has been a below average month: For the Summer (June 1-now) this has been the 41st coolest Summer since 1930. Not a stat that jumps out!Another cool shot on the way next week. Thanks for reading!Eric