September, 1997 Preliminary Local Climatological Data St. Cloud, MN National Weather Service |-Temperature-|--------Degree Days---------|-Precipitation-|-Snowfall-|----Wind----| (degrees F) (base 65 degrees F) (inches) (inches) (mph, deg) Heating Cooling Max Min Avg Dep HDD Seas Dep CDD Seas Dep Tot Tot Norm Tot Tot Avg Pk Dir from for for for for for Spd Gust at Norm Seas Seas Mon Mon Seas Pk Date | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 85 60 73 10 0 116 35 8 374 -34 0.36 0.36 0.13 M M M M M 2 69 48 59 -3 6 122 37 0 374 -35 0 0.36 0.25 M M M M M 3 68 40 54 -8 11 133 44 0 374 -36 0 0.36 0.37 M M M M M 4 70 50 60 -1 5 138 44 0 374 -37 0 0.36 0.49 M M M M M 5 87 60 74 13 0 138 39 9 383 -29 0 0.36 0.61 M M M M M 6 77 54 66 5 0 138 34 1 384 -29 0 0.36 0.73 M M M M M 7 73 56 65 5 0 138 28 0 384 -30 T 0.36 0.85 M M M M M 8 77 59 68 8 0 138 22 3 387 -28 0.55 0.91 0.96 M M M M M 9 70 48 59 0 6 144 22 0 387 -28 0.01 0.92 1.07 M M M M M 10 72 45 59 0 6 150 22 0 387 -28 0.01 0.93 1.18 M M M M M 11 73 45 59 0 6 156 22 0 387 -28 0 0.93 1.29 M M M M M 12 77 53 65 7 0 156 15 0 387 -28 0 0.93 1.40 M M M M M 13 70 52 61 3 4 160 12 0 387 -28 0 0.93 1.51 M M M M M 14 77 50 64 6 1 161 6 0 387 -28 0.02 0.95 1.62 M M M M M 15 72 65 69 12 0 161 -2 4 391 -24 0.07 1.02 1.73 M M M M M 16 73 54 64 7 1 162 -9 0 391 -24 0.43 1.45 1.83 M M M M M 17 74 49 62 5 3 165 -14 0 391 -24 0 1.45 1.93 M M M M M 18 83 50 67 11 0 165 -23 2 393 -22 0 1.45 2.03 M M M M M 19 68 48 0 20 60 36 0 21 65 32 0 22 57 44 0.07 23 66 37 52 -3 13 232 -4 0 393 -22 0 1.52 2.53 M M M M M 24 73 36 55 1 10 242 -5 0 393 -22 0 1.52 2.62 M M M M M 26 76 42 59 5 6 250 -19 0 393 -22 0 1.52 2.80 M M M M M 27 77 55 66 12 0 250 -30 1 394 -21 0.19 1.71 2.89 M M M M M 28 69 53 61 8 4 254 -38 0 394 -21 0.01 1.72 2.98 M M M M M 29 63 53 58 5 7 261 -43 0 394 -21 T 1.72 3.07 M M M M M 30 66 38 52 0 13 274 -43 0 394 -21 0 1.72 3.16 M M M M M SUBJECT: A Warmer Drier September in Saint Cloud Saint Cloud September 1996 weather summary Was it the development of high pressure over the Rockies or was it that the managers of my apartment complex declared the summer over on September 2 by closing the outdoor pool for the year? Either way, September 1997 in Saint Cloud will be remembered as being closer to an extra month of summer rather than the first month of fall. The average temperature of 60.5 degrees was more than 3 degrees above the normal. This warmth was reflected in both the average high and the average low. There were three days during the month with a high over 80 degrees. While the warmth of September 1997 did not place it within St. Cloud's ten warmest Septembers on record, it was a relatively rare event in the second half of this century. Since 1940, only four Septembers have been warmer than September 1997. In Sept. 1948, the average temperature was 64.2 degrees; in Sept. 1963, the average temperature was 61.2 degrees; in Sept. 1978, the average temperature was 62.4 degrees, and in Sept. 1994, the average temperature was 60.8 degrees. So, September 1997 ranks as the 5th warmest September in the past 57 years. It's amazing how powerful apartment managers can be! September also brought to an end the heavy rains of the second half of the summer. Rainfall totalled 1.72 inches, more than half an inch below normal. However, the combination of warmth and occasional humidity did produce one of the worst tornado outbreaks in Morrison and Mille Lacs County on the 18th when 6 tornadoes touched down east of Little Falls, injuring 2 people. SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 1997 SEP 1997 NORMAL TEMPERATURE Average high temperature ( F) 72.3 69.1 Average low temperature ( F) 48.6 45.4 Average temperature ( F) 60.5 57.3 Warmest high for this month ( F) 87 on the 5th Coolest high for this month ( F) 57 on the 22nd Mildest low for this month ( F) 65 on the 15th Coldest low for this month ( F) 32 on the 21st PRECIPITATION (in) September 1.73 2.21 Greatest in 24 hours (Sept 1996) .55 on the 8th ============================================================================= Bob Weisman, Professor/Meteorologist SUPERVISOR: Shirley (age 5) Earth Sciences Department PHONE: (320) 255-3247 MS 48 FAX: (320) 255-4262 Saint Cloud State University EMAIL: scsweisman@stcloudstate.edu 720 4th Avenue South (new address) Saint Cloud, Minnesota 56301-4498 ============================================================================= ST CLOUD MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 1997 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN ...TEMPERATURE... ...NUMBER OF DAYS... AVERAGE MONTHLY........ 60.4 MAXIMUM 32 DEG OR BELOW... 0 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.. 3.1 MAXIMUM 90 DEG OR ABOVE... 0 AVERAGE MONTHLY MAX.... 72.2 MINIMUM 32 DEG OR BELOW... 1 AVERAGE MONTHLY MIN.... 48.6 MINIMUM 0 DEG OR BELOW... 0 HIGHEST DAILY..... 87 ON SEP 5 LOWEST DAILY...... 32 ON SEP 21 ...DEGREE DAYS... HEATING COOLING TOTAL FOR THE MONTH.... 158 28 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.. -82 +19 TOTAL FOR THE SEASON... 274 394 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.. -43 -21 ...PRECIPITATION... ...INCHES... ...NUMBER OF DAYS... TOTAL FOR THE MONTH..... 1.72 MEASURABLE PRECIP.... 10 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... 1.44 BELOW 0.10 INCH OR MORE.... 4 TOTAL FOR THE YEAR......22.08 0.50 INCH OR MORE.... 1 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... 1.04 BELOW 1.00 INCH OR MORE.... 0 GREATEST IN 24 HOURS.... 0.56 ON SEP 8-9