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July rain showers come in 'large packages'

By
Troy Thone, Luverne volunteer weather recorder

Summer rainfall, unlike spring or fall showers, tends to come in what can probably best be described as "large packages.” 
While there are certainly fewer rainfall events, the amounts with those events tend to be higher, given the fact that they usually are brought by thunderstorms. 
This was no different for July 2015 where the bulk of above-normal rainfall was produced by five events. 
Luverne's official monthly rainfall totaled just shy of 3 1/2 inches (about a third of an inch above normal for the month). 
These five events amounted to about one inch on July 5-6, another half inch on July 16, one-quarter inch on July 20, 1 1/4 inches on July 25-26, and just over a half inch a couple of days later on July 28. 
So ... rainfall overall was extremely timely and beneficial.
Temperatures were typical of July and very summerlike with overall highs just slightly cooler than normal and lows about where they should be this time of year. 
Three days recorded highs reaching the monthly maximum of 91 degrees.  While 91 is not extremely brutal, those high temperatures were combined with dew points in the mid to upper 70s making it feel like a steamy sauna and causing extremely dangerous and unpleasant conditions.
Unfortunately, climatology tells us that we have now passed the warmest month of the year. 
This means we are working our way closer to autumn and cooler temperatures.  However, for you heat lovers out there, August still provides some abundant days of summer heat so enjoy it while it lasts.
 
A blog of daily summary and other interesting weather events for the Luverne area is at http://luvernemnweather.blogspot.com. Thone can be reached at tathone@gmail.com.

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