Sizzling climate carried over into August, and likewise featured many dry days till Idalia’s arrival. Once we did have rain, it usually got here from extreme and damaging thunderstorms all through the month.
Warmth Holds Regular
After summer time began in earnest in July, it hit excessive gear in August with persistent warmth all through the month. The Nationwide Facilities for Environmental Info (NCEI) experiences a preliminary statewide common temperature of 77.4°F in our Twentieth-warmest August out of the previous 129 years.
The warmth spanned all three areas of the state, because it was tied for the 4th-warmest August on document in Kinston, the Fifth-warmest in New Bern and Raleigh, and tied for the sixth-warmest in Asheville. Charlotte completed tied for its 14th-warmest August on document.
The month featured 22 days with temperatures at or above 90°F in Raleigh – tied for the 4th-most in any August there since 1887, and essentially the most since 2016. That included a brutal mid-month stretch of 11 consecutive days reaching the 90s.
![August Noticed Excessive Warmth and Damaging Storms August Noticed Excessive Warmth and Damaging Storms](https://climate.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/temp_summary_Aug2023-1024x512.png)
The warmth peaked on August 15 as excessive strain overhead put us underneath a sweltering air mass. Raleigh topped out at 100°F for the primary time since July 7, 2022, and for Greenville it was the primary 100-degree day since July 3, 2019. Triple-digit temperatures have been additionally noticed in Wilson, Smithfield, and our Sandhills ECONet stations in Lilesville and Hamlet.
On the Outer Banks, our station at Jockeys Ridge State Park hit 99°F that day as southwesterly winds pushed in air warmed over the sand dunes. The warmth index there hit as excessive as 126.7°F, and it additionally exceeded 120°F at our near-coastal stations in Aurora (125.4°F) and Plymouth (122.9°F).
Late within the month, excessive strain returned throughout the area and so did the intense warmth. Even the southern Mountains climbed into the 90s, together with a excessive of 94°F in Asheville on August 25: the most well liked day there since July 1, 2012.
The following day, Charlotte had its hottest day of the yr with a excessive of 97°F, whereas our Lilesville station topped out at 102°F, which was its warmest studying since July 2012.
Climate Station | Highest Temperature in Aug. 2023 | Warmest Day Since |
---|---|---|
Manteo Airport | 96°F (Aug. 16 and 20) | July 30, 2022 |
Charlotte Douglas Airport | 97°F (August 26) | July 28, 2022 |
Raleigh Durham Airport | 100°F (August 15) | July 7, 2022 |
Wilson 3 SW | 100°F (Aug. 15 and 16) | July 6, 2022 |
Mount Mitchell | 77°F (August 27) | June 23, 2022 |
Elizabeth Metropolis Coast Guard Air Stn | 98°F (Aug. 13 and 15) | July 28, 2020 |
Greenville | 100°F (August 15) | July 3, 2019 |
Lumberton | 100°F (Aug. 15 and 16) | Could 29, 2019 |
Washington WWTP 4W | 99°F (August 13) | June 16, 2015 |
Anson Peaking Plant (Lilesville) | 102°F (August 26) | July 8, 2012 |
Asheville Airport | 94°F (August 25) | July 1, 2012 |
Dry Days Ended by Idalia
Late-month rain from Idalia pushed some southern and jap websites above their regular precipitation, whereas it remained drier than regular within the north and west. It averaged out to be barely wetter than regular statewide, as NCEI experiences the preliminary common precipitation of 5.83 inches and our Forty third-wettest August since 1895.
Following minor rain occasions related to chilly frontal passages on August 7 and 10, we entered a stretch of dry days that, mixed with the warmth, led to drought emergence within the southern Piedmont and central Coastal Plain.
Over the 2 weeks between August 11 and 26, Raleigh and Hickory every acquired solely 0.04 inches of rain. On the coast, Bayboro had solely 0.11 inches throughout that very same interval as drought emerged regionally.
Rain returned within the remaining days of the month, with scattered showers on August 28 and 29, adopted by Tropical Storm Idalia on August 30 and 31. Storm totals included 5.57 inches in Wilmington, 7.44 inches in Beaufort, and eight.51 inches in Ocracoke.
At Hatteras, the 7.29 inches from Idalia was essentially the most rain in a two-day interval since October 27-28, 2012, when Hurricane Sandy handed offshore. That helped make it the Fifteenth-wettest August regionally since 1893.
![The August 2023 precipitation summary infographic, highlighting the monthly average temperature, departure from normal, and comparison to historical and recent years](https://climate.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/precip_summary_Aug2023-1024x512.png)
Elsewhere in jap North Carolina, it was the Nineteenth-wettest August in Greenville, the Twentieth-wettest for Williamston, and the Twenty third-wettest primarily based on 112 years of observations in Lumberton.
For some websites, even Idalia’s rain wasn’t sufficient to completely overcome the dry begin to the month. New Bern completed with its Twenty eighth-driest August prior to now 70 years, 1.31 inches under regular. Raleigh, which had lower than half an inch from the tropical storm, had just one.83 inches all month and tied for its Seventeenth-driest August on document.
Idalia’s rain ought to assist enhance a few of the Abnormally Dry (D0) situations and Average Drought (D1) when the up to date US Drought Monitor map is launched on September 7. Nevertheless, the storm wasn’t a complete drought-buster, as just a few dry areas stay that noticed little to no reduction over the past week of August.
These spots embrace our northern tier of counties within the Piedmont and Coastal Plain. Roanoke Rapids had its Twelfth-driest August in 50 years, with solely 2.15 inches of rain in whole. Elizabeth Metropolis simply wrapped up its Tenth-driest summer time on document, practically 6 inches under its regular precipitation from June by August.
![A map of percent of normal precipitation for the 90 days ending on August 31, 2023](https://climate.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/precip_pctnml_90day_2023-08-31.png)
Damaging Storms Throughout the State
After our state’s first recorded EF3 twister within the month of July, that stormy climate carried over to August, and it lined all corners of the state.
It began within the west on August 7, when an EF1 twister touched down in Yancey County, then tracked for nearly 5 miles into Mitchell County, toppling bushes alongside its path. Based mostly on the Storm Prediction Middle’s information courting again to 1950, this was the primary ever twister in Mitchell County.
Later that day, one other EF1 twister developed within the western Piedmont, taking an impressively lengthy 37-mile monitor by Catawba, Iredell, and Rowan counties, together with throughout Lake Norman. An extra EF0 was confirmed that day simply south of the lake in Huntersville.
Simply earlier than 1 am on August 15, one other EF1 twister hit north of Beech Mountain in Avery County, which was solely its second twister since 1950 and the primary since 1965.
On the finish of the month, Tropical Storm Idalia spawned a trio of tornadoes alongside our southern coast, together with an EF1 in New Hanover County and each an EF0 and an EF1 in Brunswick County.
These seven whole tornadoes in North Carolina are tied for the fifth-most in any August, and essentially the most because the 13 in 2020, which included an outbreak related to Hurricane Isaias.
![A photo of a tree down along the shores of Lake Norman after the August 7 tornado event](https://climate.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/LakeNorman_stormdamage_Aug7-1024x768.jpg)
However tornadoes weren’t the one thunderstorm hazards final month. The identical cell that spawned the August 7 twister in Catawba County additionally produced straight-line winds estimated at 80 mph, which toppled bushes and energy strains, and broken a constructing on the Hickory American Legion Fairgrounds.
And on August 15, simply hours after temperatures topped out close to 100 levels, robust storms produced golf ball-sized hail within the Triad and damaging winds within the Triangle. Greater than 50,000 Duke Power clients in Durham County have been with out energy, and one individual was killed when a tree fell on her automotive.
This spate of current storms, together with Idalia, is an effective reminder to ensure your private home is prepared for extreme climate. The Nationwide Climate Service recommends trimming again close by bushes and branches, and figuring out a basement or inside room with no home windows the place you’ll be able to take shelter if wanted.
If storms do have an effect on you and that you must climate just a few days with out energy, as some throughout the state did final month, it’s additionally a good suggestion to have emergency provides available, together with flashlights, chargers or energy banks for cell telephones, bottled water and non-perishable meals objects, and fundamental instruments and first-aid objects.
The contents throughout the article have been equipped through Newswire for Finencial.com, go to