July 2007 Recap

July 2007 was just what the doctor ordered! Suffering through the worst drought in decades, the weather pattern during July was a nice change. Let's start with the temperatures. The average temperature was 78.3 degrees, which was 1.3 degrees below normal. The coolest morning was late in the month on the 21st with 62 degrees. We had 14 mornings with temperatures in the 60s. The hottest temperature was 93 degrees which occurred on the 8th and 9th. Now, for the most important statistic of the month, rainfall. 7.18 inches of rain was recorded at Lovell Field, which was 2.45 inches above normal. July was the wettest month of 2007 so far. In fact, July was the wettest month in 32 months. You have to go back to November 2004 to find a wetter month in Chattanooga, when 6.60 inches of rainfall was received. The first day of August continued the "wet" trend, with 0.53 inches recorded. Our yearly deficit still stands at over 12 inches, which will be hard to overcome. However, more months like July will help ease us out of the drought in the long term.