July 2022 is going down in the history books

If you’ve been outside in the last month, you know it’s been extremely hot. July 2022 will go down in the Central Texas history books for many reasons. In this article, we will talk more about these reasons and learn more about the heat of this month.

July 2022 is now the hottest July on record at Waco Regional Airport. The average maximum temperature throughout the month was 103.7°. This beats the previous highest monthly average temperature record for July set in 2011 of 102.8°. We broke that record by almost a full degree. To put this heat into perspective, the normal high temperature for July is expected to be around 96.7°.

We compared this summer to the summer of 2011. That’s when we recorded the most 100° days in a year. This record was 90 days. Already this year (as of July 31) we have recorded 100° temperatures for 47 days, more than half of what we saw in 2011. Those 47 days are now 10th on the list for most annual days at 100°.

As of July 31, Waco Regional Airport is currently on a 30-day streak where temperatures have been at or above 100°. These 30 days correspond to the 3rd longest sequence of 100° recorded in 1969. The longest sequence of temperatures of 100° is 44 days in 2011, from June 30 to August 12.

Now we were just one day away from equaling the record for most 100 days recorded in a single month, 31. This happened in July 1980 and again in 2011. The average number of 100 ° days for the month of July is only 8.6. We broke that this year.

We recorded 6 new records throughout the month of July. Luckily, we didn’t break the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded at Waco Regional Airport. This record is 114°, set back on July 23, 2018. Our hottest temperature last month was 109° on the 10th.

Check out a recap of the high temperatures we saw each day on the calendar below.

Not only has this month been scorching, but it has also been terribly dry. 30 of July’s 31 days were rainless. We only recorded 0.01 inches of rain in the past month. The only other drier Julys were in 2015, 1993 and 1930, where no rainfall accumulation occurred and only traces in 1963 and 1924.

The 0.01 inch we saw last month is 1.81 inches lower than the normal amount of 1.82 inches we see in July. We are currently on a 17 day dry streak since July 31st. We tie 1980 for the driest July 6 on record for only receiving 0.01 inches of rain.

We also know that all of 2022 has been extremely dry for not only central Texas, but the entire Lone Star State as well. Drought conditions worsened across the state. As of Thursday, July 26, 99.18% of the state is in some form of drought, resulting in less than 1% of the state being drought free.

At Waco Regional Airport, we should normally see 21.49 inches of rain as we head into early August. We are now over a foot, 12.63 inches as of July 31, below where we normally are this far into the year.

So far in 2022, Waco Regional Airport has collected 8.86 inches of rain and that puts us on the 2nd driest year yet. The only other drier year was 1925, when only 5.71 inches of rain was recorded throughout the year. This time last year, more than 19 inches of rain was recorded at Waco Regional Airport.

And as July comes to an end and we head into August, we are heading into what is statistically the hottest time of the year here in central Texas. The normal maximum temperature for August is 97.1°, with the record high being 112° in 1969. There are typically 11.4 days when temperatures climb to 100° or above. The hottest average monthly maximum temperature for August is 105.2° and it was delayed in 2011.

As for the first week of August, you can expect the same hot and dry conditions to continue. Triple digit numbers and very isolated chances of rain continue for Central Texas. Continue to stay safe and cool in this heat. Before you know it, fall and winter will be here!

These climate statistics reported above in the article are recorded at Waco Regional Airport.

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