September weather and intro.

Hey I'm Rich and interested in tropical systems and general weather in my area.

2011 had a bruatally hot summer, setting a record for the most 90+ degree days.  We have had 73 such days so far, and our old record was 70 in 1998.   Records on St. Simons Island go back to 1948.

Weather the past few years has been weird and dry.  Every year since 2006 has had below normal rainfall, and so were 2001-2004.  In fact the decade of the 2000s was so dry that when our new normals came out for 1981-2010 our average annual rainfall dropped by 3.27" from 48.27" to 45.00".  2010 was our driest year on record, 24.27".

The 1970s brought us 98.1" more rain than the 2000s.

Here is my weather diary for the month of September so far.   I've been keeping this journal since Nov 2003 on paper with data from my weather station, and daily normals from the SERCC.  I won't dump all the monthly entries I promise! :)

Date..............actual..............normal................departure..........notes

Sep 1...........74.3 / 85.8.......73.6 / 86.7...........-0.1

Sep 2...........68.9 / 85.5.......73.6 / 86.6...........-2.9

Sep 3...........71.1 / 86.0.......73.5 / 86.5...........-1.4

Sep 4...........70.9 / 86.7.......73.5 / 86.4...........-1.1.................1.00" rain

Sep 5...........70.9 / 87.6.......73.3 / 86.2...........-0.5.................0.07" rain

Sep 6...........70.9 / 82.0.......73.3 / 86.1...........-3.2..................lowest average diurnal range.

Sep 7...........64.4 / 82.4.......73.2 / 86.0...........-6.2.................lowest average diurnal range.

Sep 8...........61.7 / 80.6.......73.0 / 85.9...........-8.3

Sep 9...........63.1 / 83.8.......72.8 / 85.8...........-5.8

Sep 10.........67.1 / 84.6.......72.7 / 85.6...........-3.3

Sep 11.........70.9 / 85.8.......72.5 / 85.4...........-0.6

Sep 12.........70.9 / 86.2.......72.3 / 85.2...........-0.2

Sep 13.........68.9 / 87.6.......72.1 / 85.1...........-0.3

Sep 14.........71.4 / 85.3.......71.9 / 84.9...........-0.0

Sep 15.........72.0 / 91.0.......71.7 / 84.7..........+3.3

A running total of official highs and lows at St. Simons for 2011 so far:

Highs
40s...........4
50s.........20
60s.........33
70s.........46
80s.........82
90s.........72
100s.........1
Lows
20s..........4
30s.........15
40s.........27
50s.........49
60s.........41
70s.......113
80s...........9
Freezes.......6
On September 8, St. Simons Island had a record low of 63, breaking the old record low of 64 set in 1972.
On September 9, St. Simons Island had a record low of 64, breaking the old record low of 65 set in 1956.