July 2018 Weather Summary

After a very wet May, 2018 decided to go the other way for July. We recorded only 1.11 inches of rain at Leslie Park's weather station during July. That is the lowest summer monthly total since 2012. Only seven days saw measurable rain and just one had over a tenth of an inch. The month was bookended with rain, as the first saw 0.06 inches and the 31st had 0.81. The storm on the 31st carried over into the next month, and the total was 1.14 inches. That brings the total for 2018 to 17.08 inches.

July had an average temperature of 73.5 degrees. The high temperature for the month was 95.1 (July 4th.) There were seven days with temps that got above 90 degrees. That makes 13 days already where the high was above 90. The lowest recorded temperature was 50.1 (7th)

Average windspeed for the month was 1.5 mph. The highest recorded sustained windspeed was 24 mph, on the 20th.

June 2018 Weather Summary

June had an average temperature of 69.9 degrees. The high temperature for the month was 94.4 (June 17th. There were four days with temps that got above 90 degrees. That makes 6 days already where the high was above 90. (As I write this, four days in July have already reached the same mark...) The lowest recorded temperature was 45.4 (6th)

We recorded 2.19 inches of rain at Leslie Park's weather station during June. Eleven days saw measurable rain and seven had over a tenth of an inch. The highest rainfall on any day was just 0.53 inches. That brings the total for 2018 to 15.97 inches, which is about a half an inch above what we have recorded over the last 10 years.

Average windspeed for the month was 1.6 mph. The highest recorded sustained windspeed was 25 mph, on the 13th.

May 2018 Weather Summary

May had an average temperature of 65.5 degrees, up just over 25 degrees degrees from April. The month started with a bang, as our first high temperature above 80 occurred on the first of May. The high temperature for the month was 94.6 (May 28th, the second day in a row above 90.) There were twelve days above 80 and two above 90. The lowest recorded temperature was 39.6 (May 11th.)

We got  5.57 inches of rain at Leslie Park's weather station during May. The rain fell on 15 different days, with the largest amount coming on the 3rd (0.80 inches.)  Twelve days saw more than a tenth of an inch of rain. The monthly total is not too much more than the average  of 4.05 inches. When you dig a little deeper into the numbers, you can see why it seems so much wetter than normal. In 2014 and 2015, we had over 5 inches of rain for the month, but each month had two days of at least an inch and a half of rain. In 2011, the monthly total was 6.77 inches, but 3.3 inches came in one storm. This means that there was a lot of rain, followed by at least a couple of days to dry out. This year, we saw rain on the 2nd through the 4th. Then we had four days of no rain, followed by a seven day stretch of rain every day. Then three days to dry out, followed by 5 days of rain. Three more dry days, rain on one day, two days without precipitation and then we ended the month with rain on the last two days. The longest period without rainfall was four days. That brings the total for 2018 to 13.78 inches, which is about 2.5 inches above what we have recorded over the last 10 years.

Average windspeed for the month was 2.2 mph. The highest recorded sustained windspeed was 38 mph, on the 4th.

April 2018 Weather Summary

As I write this monthly summary, the sun is out and the temperature is pushing 80. May is starting out quite different from April.

This April had an average temperature of 41.9 degrees, up almost 8 degrees degrees from March. This might seem like a lot, but for the past seven years, the average April temperature is 48.1. So we are over six degrees behind that mark. The high temperature was 74.1 (April 12th, which would also be the first time we had temperatures above 60, except for TWO days in February when we hit that number.) The lowest recorded temperature was 16.7 (April 12th.) Nineteen days had low temperatures below freezing (compared to 25 days in March) and every day got above 32 degrees for at least a little while.

We got  2.85 inches of rain at Leslie Park's weather station during April. The rain fell on 12 different days, with the largest amount coming on the 15th (0.84 inches.)  Four days saw more than a tenth of an inch of rain. That brings the total for 2018 to 8.21 inches.

Average windspeed for the month was 3.5 mph. The highest recorded sustained windspeed was 33 mph, on the 4th.

March 2018 Weather Summary

March had an average temperature of 34.0 degrees, up a little less than 3 degrees degrees from February. The high temperature was 57.5 (March 18th) and was 5 degrees lower than then high from February. The lowest recorded temperature was 15.3 (Mar 11th.) Twenty-five days had low temperatures below freezing and every day got above 32 degrees for at least a little while.

We got  2.02 inches of rain at Leslie Park's weather station during March. The rain fell on 8 different days, with the largest amount coming on the 1st (0.67 inches.)  Five days saw more than a tenth of an inch of rain. That brings the total for 2018 to 5.36 inches.

Average windspeed for the month was 3.3 mph. The highest recorded sustained windspeed was 28 mph, on the 31st.

February 2018 Weather Summary

February had an average temperature of 31.2 degrees, up a little more than 4 degrees from January. The high temperature was 63.6 (February 20th) and the lowest recorded temperature was 3.1 (Feb 5th.) Twenty-two of the 28 days had low temperatures below freezing,while 10 days never got above 32 degrees.

We got  2.32 inches of rain at Leslie Park's weather station during February. Some of the precipitation came in the form of snow, which the weather station does not record well.. The rain fell on 9 different days, with the largest amount coming on the 20th (1.08 inches.)  From the 19th to the 21st, 1.90 inches of rain fell. That, combined with melting snow led to flooding at both Huron Hills and Leslie Park. That brings the total for 2018 to 3.32 inches.

Here is some video of Traver Creek after the nearly 2 inches of rain in the middle of the month.

January 2018 Weather Summary

January 2018 had an average temperature of 27.1 degrees,up 1.5 degrees from Decmber. The high temperature was 556.7 (January 11th) and the lowest recorded temperature was minus 4.8, Jan 1st.) Twenty-six of the 31 days had low temperatures below freezing, while 13 days never got above 32 degrees. Two days had lows below zero.

We got  exactly 1 inch of rain at Leslie Park's weather station during January. Some of the precipitation came in the form of snow, which the weather station does not record well.. The rain fell on 9 different days, with the largest amount coming on the 22nd (0.36 inches.)

2017 Weather in Review

The highest temperature recorded at Leslie Park Golf Course during 2017 was 91.9 degrees on September 22nd. It was one of six days that got above the 90 degree mark. The lowest temperature was just - 11.7 degrees on December 28th. Four other days had lows below zero, all of them coming in the last week of December. Thirty-seven days never got above the freezing mark in 2017, while 104 days dipped below 32 degrees at some point.

For the year, the golf course received 36.01 inches of rain, which is almost 7 inches more than 2016. The most rain in a single day was 2.07 inches on July 7th. October took the gold for most rain during the year with 5.58 inches, April took Silver with 4.29 inches, followed closely by July with 4.13 inches. There were 115 days with at least a trace of rain, while seven days had over an inch in a 24 hour period.

The average wind speed for the year was 2.6 mph. The highest sustained wind speed was 41.0 mph on March 8th.

December 2017 Weather Summary

December 2017 had an average temperature of 26.5 degrees, down another 15 degrees from November. The high temperature was 59.8 (December 5th) and the lowest recorded temperature was minus 11.7, Dec 28.) Twenty-nine of the 31 days had low temperatures below freezing (only the 18th and 19th stayed above 32 degrees)  while 15 days never got above 32 degrees. Four days had lows below zero.

We got  just 0.36 inches of rain at Leslie Park's weather station during December. Some of the precipitation came in the form of snow, which the weather station does not record well.. The rain fell on 6 different days, with the largest amount coming on the 16th (0.14 inches.)  That brings the total for 2017 to 36.01 inches.

November Weather Summary

November 2017 had an average temperature of 39.9 degrees, down almost 15 degrees from October. The high temperature was 65.2 (November 28th!) and the lowest recorded temperature was 18.8, (Nov 10th.) Fifteen days had low temperatures below freezing while one day (again, the 10th) never got above 32 degrees.

We got 3.96 inches of rain at Leslie Park's weather station during November. The rain fell on 11 different days, with the largest amount coming on the 18th (1.59 inches.) Eight days recorded more than a tenth of an inch. That brings the total so far to 35.65 inches for 2017.

October 2017 Weather Summary

October 2017 had an average temperature of 55.8 degrees, down just under 10 degrees from September. The high temperature was 84.7 (October 3rd) and the lowest recorded temperature was 30.6, (Oct 26th  which was also the only day during the month that the temperature dipped below the freezing point.)

We got 5.58 inches of rain at Leslie Park's weather station during October. The rain fell on 15 different days, with the largest amount coming on the 11th (1.64 inches.) Nine  days recorded more than a tenth of an inch. That brings the total so far to 37.33 inches for 2017.

September 2017 Weather Summary

Dr. Kevin Frank from Michigan State University said that it seemed as if August and September switched places this year. I couldn't agree more. September had five days with high temperatures above 90 degrees. The rest of 2017 had only one, as June 12th got to 90.0 degrees exactly. The highest temperature at Leslie Park was 91.9 (September 22nd,) which was in the middle of a stretch of seven days with high temperatures above 85 degrees and had all five of the 90 degree-plus days. The lowest temperature was 41.5 (10th,) while the average was 64.6 degrees.

We got 1.34 inches of rain at Leslie Park's weather station during September while Huron received less than one inch. The hurricanes that hit Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico kept high pressure and clear skies above Michigan for most of the month. The rain fell on six different days, with the largest amount coming on the 4th (0.77 inches.) The next highest rainfall was 0.32 inches, just three days later. That meant just a quarter of an inch of rain fell from September 8th through the end of the month. That week of hot temperatures also fell in the last half of the month, so these factors combined to make the grass think it was mid-summer. Only 2 days recorded more than a tenth of an inch. That brings the total so far to 26.11 inches for 2017.

As I write this on October 6th, we have gotten 0.27 inches of rain today, so we hope we have turned the corner on the dry weather.

August 2017 Weather Summary

August 2017 had an average temperature of 68.6 degrees, down about 4 degrees from July. The high temperature was 87.6 (August 2nd) and the lowest recorded temperature was 46.7 (25th.)

We got 2.58 inches of rain at Leslie Park's weather station during August. The rain fell on eight different days, with the largest amount coming on the 17th (0.80 inches.) Five days recorded more than a tenth of an inch. That brings the total so far to 24.77 inches for 2017.

July 2017 Weather Summary

At the end of last month's weather summary, I said that the month of June was boring. I promise to never say anything like that again.

July 2017 had an average temperature of 72.2 degrees, up about 3 degrees from June. The high temperature was 88.8 (July 19th) and the lowest recorded temperature was 50.3 (July 25th.)

What really gets interesting is when you start to look at the rain we got in July. We got 4.13 inches of rain, which is just above the 3.47 inches we have gotten in the last seven years. Unfortunately, 98% of that came within one seven day period, between July 7 and July 13. You might also remember that this is right before the City Championship at Leslie Park. Then the precipitation stopped. Technically, we got 0.06 inches of rain for the rest of the month, but that came over three different days. Eighteen days with appreciable rainfall. There were only 3 days where the high temperature was below 80 degrees during that time span, and one of those days was 79.2 degrees. The maximum amount of rain on one day was 2.07 inches. (July 7th.) There were seven total days of rain and two of those were over an inch. July 10th saw 1.01 inches fall.

Average windspeed was 1.1 mph. The highest recorded sustained windspeed was 33 mph, on the 12th, although these numbers are suspect, because we had an electrical surge at the barn during one of the storms. Along with frying the COM ports on the irrigation computer, it did something to the weather station. Now it only seems to record windspeed and humidity during daylight hours. I tried changing the battery, but that did not work, so must contact support at Davis instruments for some help with this issue.

June 2017 Weather Summary

The high temperature for the June was 90.0 degrees. (June 12th) while the low was 45.2 (8th.)   The average temperature was 69.2 degrees, an almost 12 degree jump from May.

There were 9 days of rain recorded by the weather station. The monthly total was 1.57 inches. Only three days saw more than a tenth of an inch of rain and the 22nd had the most rainfall with 0.70 inches. Leslie Park has had 18.17 inches of precipitation in 2017.

Average windspeed was 2.1 mph. The highest recorded sustained windspeed was 27 mph, on the 10th. 

I do these weather summaries for historical purposes, not for the interest they generate. That being said, this might be one of the most boring weather summaries. No days below freezing, only one day above 90 degrees. Only 3 days of real rain (anything under a tenth of an inch in the summer is basically not replenishing the water in the soil.) No rain events over an inch. In the category of most boring, this month takes the prize. Not that there is anything wrong with that, mind you. I am not complaining. I will take boring over extremes, any month.

May 2017 Weather Summary

The high temperature for the May was 87.4 degrees. (May 18th) while the low was 30.7 (9th.) Only one day had low temperatures below 32 degrees.  The average temperature was 57.9 degrees.

There were 13 days of rain recorded by the weather station. The monthly total was 3.86 inches. Eight days saw more than a tenth of an inch of rain and the 21st had the most rainfall with 1.27 inches. Leslie Park has had 16.49 inches of precipitation in 2017.

Average windspeed was 2.8 mph. The highest recorded sustained windspeed was 31 mph, on the 17th. 

April 2017 Weather Summary

The high temperature for the April was 82.2 degrees. (April 15th) while the low was 27.5 (8th.) Only two days had low temperatures below 32 degrees.  The average temperature was 53.4 degrees, which was nearly 15 degrees above the average for March.

There were 13 days of rain recorded by the weather station. The monthly total was 4.29 inches. Ten days saw more than a tenth of an inch of rain and the 20th had the most rainfall with 0.79 inches.

Average windspeed was 3.9 mph. The highest recorded sustained windspeed was 35 mph, on the 8th. 

March 2017 Weather Summary

The high temperature for the March was 76.9 degrees. (Mar 24th) while the low was 12.5 (4th.) Eighteen days had low temperatures below 32 degrees while 8 days never got above the freezing point. In February, by contrast, we only had 4 days that never got above 32.  The average temperature was 36.2 degrees, which was three tenths of a degree below February.

There were 10 days of rain recorded by the weather station. The monthly total was 3.48 inches. Seven days saw more than a tenth of an inch of rain and the 30th had the most rainfall with 1.29 inches.

Average windspeed was 4.3 mph. The highest recorded sustained windspeed was 41 mph, on the 8th, which was the day that saw numerous power outages around the state. It also knocked over a few trees at the golf courses as well as dislodging the power lines behind the Leslie Clubhouse, resulting in the power pole catching on fire!

February 2017 Weather Summary

The high temperature for the February was 67.9 degrees! (Feb 18th) while the low was 4.3 (3rd.) Eighteen days had low temperatures below 32 degrees while only 4 days never got above the freezing point. There were seven straight days above 55 degrees between the 18th and 24th. The average temperature was 36.5 degrees.

There were 6 days of rain recorded by the weather station, although at least some of that was snow melting and falling through the rain collector. The monthly total was 2.71 inches. Five days saw more than a tenth of an inch of rain and the 28th had the most rainfall with 1.09 inches.

Average windspeed was 3.7 mph. The highest recorded sustained windspeed was 31 mph, on the 12th. 

January 2017 Weather Summary

The high temperature for the first month of the year was 58.5 degrees (Jan 21st) while the low was 1.3 (6th.) Twenty days had low temperatures below 32 degrees while 9 days never got above the freezing point. The average temperature was 30.9 degrees.

There were 11 days of rain recorded by the weather station, although at least some of that was snow melting and falling through the rain collector. The monthly total was 2.15 inches. Five days saw more than a tenth of an inch of rain and the 10th had the most rainfall with 0.54 inches.

Average windspeed was 3.1 mph. The highest recorded sustained windspeed was 36 mph, on the 10th.