Here we go. Labor Day, the unofficial end to summer, has come and gone so I guess that makes today the unofficial start of fall. When we look at our summer numbers we actually focus on the months of June, July and August. The temperatures averaged about ¾ degree below normal for those months and rainfall was about half an inch above normal.
Now let’s put things in perspective. I focused on days with rain and 80 degree days. Here is a comparison of the summer of 2009 with some past summers that were less than stellar:
| 90 Degree Days | Days Above 80 | Days With Rain |
| 2009 | 1 | 34 | 43 |
| 1992 | 0 | 28 | 40 |
| 1976 | 0 | 36 | 45 |
| 2000 | 0 | 35 | 38 |
| 1967 | 0 | 40 | 32 |
| 1984 | 0 | 44 | 32 |
| 1970 | 1 | 40 | 30 |
| 1958 | 1 | 40 | 38 |
| 2004 | 1 | 40 | 38 |
| Normal | 8 | 46 | 33 |
In my opinion, if it wasn’t for a stretch of very warm and dry weather in August I think we could have accurately compared this past summer to the summers of 1992 and 1976.
One other thing I noticed about this summer was the lack of humid days. Over the last 10 years I’ve tracked the number of days where the dewpoint reached or exceeded 70. Remember, dew point is a more absolute measure of the amount of moisture in the air. Typically the higher the dewpoint the more humid it feels. Over the last 10 plus years the average number of ‘humid’ summer days is 19 with a high of 29 days as recently as 2005. This summer it was only 9 days.
One a personal note: the highlight of my summer was a hike this past weekend with my wife to the top of Mt. Marcy, the highest mountain in New York State. It was a long day (9 ½ hours round trip) but nothing beats the sense of accomplishment of reaching the top. Plus the view from the top is awesome! Check out this picture.
