From the 1920s through the 1980s Fargo Moorhead
averaged between 140 and 170 days per decade with temperatures of 90 degrees or
higher  The 1930s had by far the highest number of such days with 219
being recorded.  The 1980s had the second highest total with 168 90 degree
days.  

Weather
patterns are always changing; therefore the odds are high that this area will
be returning to more frequent 90 degree summer weather in the coming decades.

Since official records began on January 1, 1881, the 3.33
inches of rain that fell officially in Fargo Moorhead on Monday ranked as the
13^th highest daily total ever measured (although, I only had 2.00" in both of my gauges).

The highest midnight to midnight total was
4.72 inches on August 8, 1943. 

Most of
you probably remember the Fargo
flood on June 19 and 20 back in 2000. 
Because that event occurred over two days, June 19 ranks 2^nd
all time for daily rainfall at 4.64 inches, but an additional 2.18 inches fell
after midnight on the 20^th. 
The total rain from that event of 6.82 inches does rank as the heaviest
24 hour total on record, but because it occurred over two days it misses out on
the all-time daily record. 

Although this
area has been in a wetter pattern the past fifteen years, only two of the top
ten daily precipitation records have been set since 1993 with four out of the
top ten occurring in the 1880s and 1890s.

Tonight is expected to be the peak of the annual
Perseid meteor shower.  The name originates from the fact that many of the
meteors will radiate, or appear to come from the constellation Perseus.

It is estimated that
between 50 to 100 meteors per hour could be seen in a dark sky.  Of course
any cloud cover tonight (which looks very likely) would spoil the show, but even if you can not make it
out tonight, the peak night, the earth will still be moving through the dust
field created by Comet Swift-Tuttle for the next several days giving you an
opportunity to enjoy seeing more meteors than you would during other times of
the year. 

A viewer/listener wrote in and asked about the longest period of time without 100 degree
temperatures.   The first 100 degree
temperature recorded in Fargo Moorhead was on June 30, 1883 (records started in
1881) and since then we have official hit 100 degrees or higher 86 times.  

There is no other such period with fewer 100 degree days than that
period from 1989 to 2006. 

July 2008 was the eighth
straight month with below average temperatures in Fargo Moorhead.   Last month finished 0.5 degrees below the
thirty year average, which really made it a very average month for temperatures,
whereas most of these several months in a row with below average temperatures
finished well below average.   

The warmest temperature last month was
recorded on July 11 when the temperature reached 91 degrees and the coolest
temperature was recorded on July 3 when we dipped down to 46 degrees. 

Precipitation wise, it was a dry month
locally.  We missed a couple of heavier
rain events to our north and south during the course of the month, so
officially at the airport just 1.78 inches of rain fell which is 1.10 inches
below average.   

Even with a relatively
dry July, we are still running a bit above average for both yearly and summer precipitation.