August proves to be pleasant, despite ragweed allergies

Where has the summer gone? It didn't seem that long ago that we were just beginning to talk about summer temperatures, and here I am writing about the last full month of summer, which has just come to a close.
It always seems a bit difficult to make August weather very interesting.  August is usually the lull between full summer and the eventual change to cool, brisk autumn days.
However, all that being said, it is still a very pleasant summer month, unless you’re a fellow ragweed sufferer — in which case mid-to-late August can be downright miserable.
Temperatures for the month were a bit cooler than normal with highs nearly 2 degrees below normal and overnight lows just shy of a half degree below normal.
The monthly high temperature was 93 and that was the only 90-degree temperature.
For the summer months of June, July, and August that was our 10th 90-degree day, and we never breached the 100-degree mark, which means this is the fifth year in a row without a 100-degree temperature.
Precipitation didn't fare much better with just over 2 inches of rainfall for the month, leaving us with a deficit of nearly an inch for the month, and, officially, over 3 inches below normal for the year. 
However, depending on where you live in the county, that below-normal figure is likely not very representative, as many areas, particularly the northern half of the county, have seen an abundance of rainfall.  This also does not take into account a pretty wet start to September for many areas.
With September already here, it is time to utter those ugly words of frost and freeze. 
For Luverne the average date of our first frost is approximately Sept. 26, with Oct. 6 the first freeze on average. At least I didn't utter the "S" word. Let's wait another month — or better yet two months —before we have to talk about that.
 
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.