Now that the seasons have changed within the weather world, here's a look back at June, July and August to see how this past Meteorological Summer ranks in Buffalo.
The season began with a roaring start as late night thunderstorms brought pea to golf ball size hail to Buffalo and Niagara Falls on June 2nd. But storm wise, the day that takes the cake this summer is July 16th when Western New York saw its first tornado in three years. The National Weather Service in Buffalo confirmed the EF-1 tornado touched down in the Town of Portland with maximum winds around 100 mph. No fatalities or injuries were reported, though there was significant structural damage to barns in the local area.
Overall, this past summer can be described as hot! 2020 officially ranks as the second warmest Meteorological Summer in Buffalo on record with an average temperature of 72.7 degrees. The warmest is 2005 with an average temperature of 73.1 degrees. Buffalo joins a list of other cities across the Northeast who's 2020 summers rank as one of the warmest, including Portland, Maine, Providence and NYC to name a few.
And the record-breaking warm moments don't stop there! July of 2020 is now Buffalo's warmest month on record and broke a record that withstood almost a century. The average temperature experienced this past July was 77.6 degrees. One of the reasons why the month holds this title is because of the additional record-breaking heat wave felt during the Fourth of July. The record for consecutive, 90 + degree days was broken from July 3rd through 10th with 8 days. Also during this time, the hottest temperature recorded in 67 years occurred on July 9th when it reached 98 degrees, hence breaking the day's record high temperature. In all, July alone produced at least 7 warm-related records.
But don't forget, there was one record that swung in the other direction. A new daily record low temperature was set on June 14th when it reached 42 degrees at the Buffalo Airport. It was only by one degree, but it replaced a 74 year old record for the day.
Even though there were several storm systems that brought heavy amounts of rain that lead to Flash Flood Warnings, the season ended on a drier note with much of Western New York being included in the New York State Drought Monitor for having abnormally dry soil moisture levels. In fact, just 17 days this summer had more than 0.10 inches of rain. It's not too unusual since summer is Buffalo's "dry" season, but the lack of extra daily rainfall kept this past summer under by over an inch. Only 9.07 inches of rain fell between June, July and August, where typically 10.15 inches falls within that three month timeframe.
To sum, the 'Summer of 2020' in Buffalo will go down in history as one of the warmest on record, remembered for its heat, humidity and powerful storms.
