As I often do I reproduced John Bateman’s article in its entirety when I provide a review of the prior month. I really did not have a link for his article but similar information was available at NCEI but John provides a good summary of the information so I tend to use it.
But I also like to add after John Bateman’s article, a few additional graphics namely the state ranking maps. These show how temperature and precipitation for each state ranks relative to the 139 years of what is considered to be the most reliable data we have. 
| John Bateman has provided a lot of useful information in his article. |
Now we will discuss the State Rankings. Let me remind you that this shows where the Temperature and Precipitation in July rank within the 129-year history of that state.
I did not see the value of showing the ranking for the seven-month period from January through July. The data is shown above in the article that John Bateman wrote without the state ranking information. I wanted to focus on the single month of July because it was so unusual.
| Four years set records for average temperature. That is a lot. Many others were much above average. |
| But only two states set a record for the maximum temperatures. |
| But four states set a record for the highest minimum temperatures usually meaning there was a lot of humidity. |
| No records were set but look at the states that were the 3rd and 4th driest. It looks like three states were tied for 3rd driest. Supposedly July is a monsoon month for Arizona and New Mexico so being hot and dry was not much fun. A number of states had much above-average precipitation. |
| Sometimes looking at the climate divisions within a state reveals information that looking statewide hides. That is clearly the case for California which had mostly record dry except for basically one climate division. Some climate divisions set wetness records. |
So far I have not seen a good explanation for the extreme weather in July. One thing we know is that there was very little tropical activity to provide moisture for the Southwest.
A weak Monsoon was forecast by NOAA and especially JAMSTEC but no one imagined it would be this bad.
| I hope you found this article interesting and useful. |
