August was a month of two tales for the Ohio Valley and the Mid-West. It started off very cool and wet, with temperatures well below normal and numerous showers and thunderstorms dumping plenty of rainfall over the region. Then, the tables turned by the second half of the month, as some the hottest weather of the year moved in from the southwest.
For the Chicago area, the month got off to a soaking start with 2.76” of rain falling on August 4th. A second round of thunderstorms impacted the area on August 11th, with close to an inch of rain falling across northeastern Illinois. Another period of very wet weather impacted the area August 21st through 23rd, with close to 3.0 inches of rain reported at O’Hare Airport. When all was said and done, rainfall totaled 7.30 inches for the August 2014, nearly double the monthly average! In terms of temperatures, the month began near to slightly below normal but slowly warmed up, soaring to the mid to upper 80s after August 18th and remaining well above normal thereafter.
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Farther south and east, Indianapolis experienced a very similar month. Like Chicago, the first half of the month featured below average temperatures but heat built into the region for the second half with highs climbing into the middle to upper 80s on the 18th. Indianapolis finally cracked the 90 degree mark for the first time on August 25th, making it one of the latest first 90 degree days on record. The hottest day of the month was the 26th, which topped 93 degrees! Besides being warm, the end of August was also wet with most of the monthly rainfall falling between August 19th and 26th. The rainfall on the 19th was associated with strong thunderstorms that brought damaging winds to the area including a 55 mph gust at Indianapolis International Airport. The wettest day occurred on August 22nd, with extremely heavy rain falling over north central Indiana. While the airport only reported 0.81” of rain, locations north and east of the city received over 9 inches!
Over in Ohio, temperatures for the month of August averaged 0.5 – 1.5 degrees above normal for most places. Its temperature trend followed suit with Chicago and Indianapolis, as the first half of the month was cooler than the latter half. August 18th through the 27th was the warmest stretch, with high temperatures in the upper 80s and lower 90s. Rainfall totals for the month were very close to normal for much of Ohio. Similar to Indianapolis, the heaviest rainfall came on August 21-22nd, as strong thunderstorms moved through the Ohio Valley dumping 1 - 2 inches of rainfall.
Average daily temperature for August 2014. Notice the upswing in temp at the end of the month.
