U.S. Has 30th Coolest August, 34th Coolest Summer

Images (click to enlarge): August and summer 2009 average temperature ranks from National Climatic Data Center

For other seasonal weather posts, see here.

The National Climatic Data Center posted its preliminary analysis of August temperatures on Thursday. Continuing a trend of cooler-than-average temperatures in the Midwest and Northeast, August was the 30th coolest on record, and meteorological summer (June-August) was the 34th coolest. Unlike July, however, when records were set in 6 states, no statewide records were set. The coolest states relative to average were:

Missouri 11th coolest
Kansas 12 coolest

On the other hand, several Northeastern states were in the top 10 warmest:

Delaware 8th warmest
New Jersey 8th warmest
Maine 9th warmest
Rhode Island 10th warmest
Connecticut 10th warmest

For the U.S. as a whole, the temperature of 72.2°F was 0.6°F below the 20th Century average.

The summer average of 71.7°F was 0.4°F below the 20th Century average. In the top 10 coolest summer category were:

Michigan 5th coolest
Wisconsin 7th coolest
Minnesota 7th coolest
South Dakota 7th coolest
Nebraska 8th coolest
Iowa 9th coolest

In the top 10 warmest category:

Florida 4th warmest
Washington 8th warmest
Texas 9th warmest