**August Number range CHAPTER2005 NC Weather Review**

**Overview**

August 2005 was hotter than normal and this continued the hot weather
theme that has dominated North Carolina since the beginning of the 2005
summer season August 2005 was the third hottest August on record at
Raleigh-Durham and the fourth hottest on record at Greensboro. When the
August temperatures are combined with the hot temperatures that were
observed in June and July, Raleigh-Durham exceeded its hottest summer
season on record. In addition to the heat, the dry pattern that began in
July over the northern Piedmont expanded across much of interior North
Carolina during August. Only the Mountains, the southern coastal area,
and the Outer Banks had monthly rainfall that was near or above the
August thirty year normal.

The driest conditions during August extended from the southern Foothills
northeast through the Piedmont, reaching the northern Coastal Area
including Rutherfordton, Salisbury, the Triad, the Triangle, Rocky
Mount, Roanoke Rapids, and Elizabeth City. Many locations within this
region received less than 1.5 inches of rainfall during August (25 to 35
percent of normal). The dry August conditions exasperated the ongoing
dry weather over central and northeastern North Carolina. The latest
drought severity index classified much of this region in a moderate
drought as of September 3, 2005 (see Figure 1).

![](media/image1.gif){width="4.925694444444445in"
height="4.040972222222222in"}

**Figure 1. Palmer Drought Severity Index as of September 3, 2005. Note
that moderate drought conditions had expanded to cover much of central
and northeast North Carolina.**

**Details**

**Temperatures**

Dry weather and heat worked in tandem during the 2005 summer season to
make life increasingly difficult for the agricultural and hydrological
communities. The consecutive days of sunny and dry weather resulted in
an increasingly dry soil as the summer season progressed. As the soil
dries, the sun's energy is more efficiently converted to heat and hotter
temperatures at the surface. With only a scattering of thunderstorms to
provide localized wetting and cooling of the soil, many inland locations
across the Piedmont, Coastal Plain, and Sandhills experienced numerous
days in which the daily highs reached well into the 90s (3 to 5 degrees
above the seasonal normal). Due to the persistent heat, Raleigh-Durham
recorded its hottest summer season on record. This includes the months
of June, July, and August. This heat further dried the soil making for a
real struggle for the agricultural community. Figure 2 depicts the
number of 90 degree days recorded at selected locations across North
Carolina.

![](media/image2.wmf){width="5.15625in" height="3.2708333333333335in"}

**Figure 2. The number of 90 degree days recorded at selected locations
across North Carolina**

The average monthly August temperatures ranged in the upper 70s to lower
80s, except lower to mid 70s over the Mountains. The average monthly
temperatures across North Carolina are shown below in Figure 3. The
hottest August readings were reported across the Sandhills, Coastal
Plain, and eastern Piedmont including: Fayetteville (82.0 degrees),
Lumberton (81.5 degrees), and Raleigh-Durham (80.2 degrees). The coolest
readings were found over the higher elevations of the Mountains where
Mount Mitchell, Mount Pisgah, and Grandfather Mountain (all at
elevations above 5000 feet) averaged in the 60s. The coolest average
temperature was found atop Mount Mitchell (61.7 degrees). Populated
locations in the Mountains had temperatures that averaged in the lower
to mid 70s, including Boone (70.5 degrees), Jefferson 71.6 degrees,
Asheville 73.9, and Bryson City (74.9 degrees).

![](media/image3.png){width="6.493055555555555in"
height="2.8256944444444443in"}

**Figure 3. August 2005 Average monthly temperatures across North
Carolina.**

August temperatures generally averaged 2 to 3.5 degrees above the 30
year normals. Some specific departures include Cape Hatteras (3.6
degrees above normal), Lumberton (+3.5 degrees), Greensboro (+3.1
degrees), Raleigh-Durham (+3.0 degrees), and Asheville (+2.1 degrees).
The only areas that experienced near normal temperatures were along the
coast, where both Wilmington and Elizabeth City averaged around 1 degree
above normal.

Figures 4 and 5 depict the daily maximum and minimum temperatures
observed at both Raleigh-Durham (RDU) and Greensboro (GSO) during August
2005. The dashed lines represent the normal maximum temperature (red)
and the normal minimum temperature (blue).

![](media/image4.wmf){width="5.427083333333333in"
height="3.1979166666666665in"}

**Figure 4. Daily maximum and minimum temperatures observed during
August 2005 at**

**Raleigh-Durham (RDU).**

![](media/image5.wmf){width="5.333333333333333in"
height="3.1979166666666665in"}

**Figure 5. Daily maximum and minimum temperatures observed during
August 2005 at Greensboro (GSO).**

The hotter than normal conditions this summer led to an unusually high
number of days in which the temperatures reached or exceeded 90 degrees.
The total number of 90 degree days through August 31 reached or exceeded
50 days over the Sandhills and southern Coastal Plain (typically the
hottest areas of the state). Some of the reporting stations include:
Fayetteville (58 days), Laurinburg and Lumberton with 57 each, and
Elizabethtown with 56.

The number of 90 degree days really dropped off as one moved west
through the Piedmont into the slightly higher elevations. Greensboro
totaled only 29 such days and Charlotte 32. Figure 6 shows the number of
90 degree days reported in 2005 (through August 31) by official NWS
observation and cooperative observer reports.

![](media/image6.png){width="6.493055555555555in"
height="3.2319444444444443in"}

**Figure 6. Graphic of the Number of 90 degree days recorded during 2005
(through August 31).**

Raleigh-Durham (RDU) reported 57 days of 90 degree temperatures which is
on par with the hottest areas of the state. However, a few locations
nearby reported far fewer 90 degree days including the NC State Campus
in Raleigh and Apex which both reported 48 days, while Chapel Hill
recorded 46. These numbers can be a bit misleading. There were several
days in which RDU hit 90 to 92 while the nearby cooperative stations
including Raleigh and Apex topped out at 89.

**Precipitation**

The dry weather expanded south and west from the northern Piedmont in
July to cover much of interior North Carolina in August. The very wet
conditions that had prevailed for several months across the Mountains
and Foothills tailed off to near normal conditions in August. The only
exception was over the highest elevations of the central Mountains where
isolated afternoon thunderstorms continued to produce above normal
precipitation amounts, especially around Mount Mitchell, Mount Pisgah,
and Rosman.

Persistent high pressure aloft over North Carolina during August steered
tropical weather systems away from the state. Rainfall tallies over the
parched inland sections of the state generally totaled between 1 and 3
inches (25 to 50 percent of normal). This included locations such as
Greensboro, Apex, Raleigh, Zebulon, Yanceyville, Ellerbe, Roanoke
Rapids, Tryon, and Shelby. There were several isolated areas where 4 to
7 inches of rain was reported during August (75 to 100 percent of
normal). This included Henderson, Chapel Hill, Siler City, Fayetteville,
and Raeford. Rainfall amounts along the coast ranged from less than 2
inches along the northern coast to nearly 7 inches at Wilmington. These
amounts were generally well below normal to the north to near normal
around Wilmington. The Mountains and Foothills which had been very wet
this summer began a drying trend by the middle of August. Figures 7 and
8 depict estimated August 2005 rainfall totals as observed by the
official National Weather Service (NWS) observation sites and NWS
cooperative observers.

![](media/image7.png){width="6.49375in" height="3.323611111111111in"}

**Figure 7. August 2005 Estimated monthly precipitation totals.**

![](media/image8.wmf){width="6.395833333333333in"
height="4.229166666666667in"}

**Figure 8. Comparison of observed precipitation and normal
precipitation for August 2005 at selected locations across North
Carolina.**

**Current, Semi-Annual and Annual Precipitation Trends**

The months of June, July, and August were relatively dry throughout much
of central North Carolina. Scattered areas throughout the region
benefited from locally heavy thunderstorms at times but even the locally
heavy summer thunderstorms became very widely scattered after the second
week of August.

Raleigh-Durham (RDU) continued to be one of the lucky spots this summer
season, totaling 3.90 inches of rain in August after receiving over 7
inches in July. The seasonal rainfall total for June through August was
13.04 inches, which was 1.55 inches above normal. Conversely, the NWS
office at NC State University located about 10 mile southeast of the
airport recorded only 9.21 inches of rain during this same period. This
was nearly 4 inches below normal. This report was much more
representative of the precipitation distribution pattern across central
North Carolina during the past three months. Most cooperative observers
recorded rainfall deficits of between 2 and 5 inches this summer season.

The yearly rainfall total for the period of January 1 through September
20, 2005 at RDU was 27.48 inches, which was 5.05 inches below normal.

![](media/image9.wmf){width="5.46875in" height="3.3333333333333335in"}

**Figure 9. Semi-annual and annual precipitation trends at
Raleigh-Durham (RDU).**

The very dry August at Greensboro (GSO) brought the seasonal summer
(June-August) rainfall total to below normal levels. The summer season
rainfall totaled 11.09 inches. This is 0.59 inches below normal.

The yearly total for 2005 at GSO indicated a net precipitation deficit
of nearly 10 inches (9.49 inches). Nine of the past twelve months have
been drier than normal. Figure 10 depicts the monthly precipitation
totals and the departure from normal during this period at Greensboro.

![](media/image10.wmf){width="5.447916666666667in"
height="3.3645833333333335in"}

**Figure 10. Semi-annual and annual precipitation trends at Greensboro
(GSO).**

**North Carolina Water Resources Information**

Progressively drier and drier conditions overspread much of interior
North Carolina since mid August. The lack of rain over the interior
sections during August added to the rainfall deficits already existing
since the beginning 2005. The rainfall deficits since the first of the
year totaled between 5 and 10 inches throughout much of the interior of
the state with the dry weather focused on the Greensboro to Roxboro
regions of the northern Piedmont.

There are local agricultural concerns, as many crops including corn, soy
beans, cotton, and peanuts suffered from poor growth due to the lack of
water. Hydrologic concerns were developing at months end with many
locations including the Raleigh-Durham and Greensboro regions
considering implementing water usage restrictions to protect the
diminishing reservoir supplies.

![](media/image11.png){width="6.426388888888889in" height="4.76875in"}

Figure 11. The U.S. Drought Monitor as of September 6, 2005. Abnormally
dry conditions were noted over the northern and eastern Piedmont and the
Coastal Plain. These abnormally dry conditions affected mostly the
agricultural community but hydrologic concerns were growing.

**Climate Outlook for September, October, and November 2005**

The Climate Prediction Center released its latest 3 month outlook
recently. Details concerning this forecast can be found at:

<http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/multi_season/13_seasonal_outlooks/color/page2.gif>.

The Atlantic tropical weather season has been very active and is
expected to continue to be active for the remainder of the season. While
much of the wrath of the wind and flooding associated with land falling
storms impacted the central Gulf Coast and southern Florida, there is
still the potential for land falling tropical systems to affect North
Carolina. Because of this. North Carolina will continue to have an
increased probability of above normal rainfall through the tropical
weather season. Trends in recent years have been for more active
Atlantic hurricane seasons, and many of these systems have either
directly or indirectly affected North Carolina. Rainfall has averaged
above normal over much of North Carolina during the past decade in the
tropical weather season, with September being the month that has shown
the greatest increase in precipitation.

Additional information concerning the number of expected storms in the
Atlantic basin during the upcoming tropical season from NOAA/NWS can be
found at
<http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/outlooks/hurricane.html>. A
review of the tropical systems that affected North Carolina during the
last Hurricane season can be found at:
<http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rah/events>.

**NC Weather Review Team**

Phillip Badgett

Michael Strickler

Jonathan Blaes