 While August was not an extraordinarily warm month, the June through
August summer season was above average in all nine states of the
region. All states ranked in the top 35 of their respective records,
with Kentucky, at 34th, and Indiana, tied for 22nd, being the lone
states outside of their respective top 20 warmest. Iowa, which tied
for 10th, and Wisconsin, tied for eighth, were the states with top
10 summers, while the region as a whole tied for eighth.
Even with the cooler August across the region, year-to-date
average temperatures in all states still ranked first or tied for
first in the records for the period of January through August. The
Midwest region finished with a value of 55.4 degrees, beating out
the previous record of 54.2 degrees in 1921.
Statewide values for the January-August period were 58.9 degrees
in Illinois, topping the previous record of 58.3 in 1921; 58.2
degrees in Indiana, compared with 57.8 in 1921; 55.6 degrees in
Iowa, compared with 54.6 in 1987; 50.8 degrees in Michigan, edging
out the 50.7 in 1921; 49.3 degrees in Minnesota, compared with 49.1
in 1987; 62 degrees in Missouri, beating the 59.9 in 1921; 56.9
degrees in Ohio, compared with 56.1 in 1921; and 50.7 degrees in
Wisconsin, topping the 49.5 in 1987. Kentucky tied the record of
61.2 degrees with 1921.
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The summer was not record-breaking in many respects, but the
unseasonably warm year-to-date temperatures have been. Another way
to look at the unseasonably warm temperatures is the number of days
with a maximum temperature greater than 90 degrees. Across the
region, many cities experienced two to three times the normal number
of days with temperatures 90 degrees or greater, such as
Indianapolis, Ind., with 51 days greater than or equal to 90
degrees, which is 38 days more than normal. The table below
highlights select cities across the region.
The region and all nine states have a chance to break their
annual temperature record this year. In Missouri, normal
temperatures over the last four months of the year will be enough to
set a new annual record. The region and the remaining states would
need to average above-normal temperatures, typically by a degree or
two, over the remaining months of 2012 to break their annual
records.
[Text from file received from
the Midwestern Regional Climate Center]
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