Neil Hayward and Robert H. Stymeist
According to researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), July was the hottest month worldwide in more than a century of global record-keeping. Here in Boston the average temperature was 87 degrees, four degrees above average. The temperature was in the 90s for 12 days of the month with a high of 98 degrees on July 21. Rainfall in Boston totaled 5.81 inches, 2.3 inches above the average for July. Violent thunderstorms rolled through the state on the last day of the month, downing trees and leaving thousands of residents without power. A microburst at Logan Airport clocked more than 70 mph.
August temperatures were more in line with historical precedent; the average for the city of Boston was 82 degrees, which is about normal, with a high temperature of 95 degrees on August 19. Rainfall totaled 3.48 inches, also about average. Severe thunderstorms in central Massachusetts, on the warmest day of the month, uprooted trees and brought power outages to Hampden County.
R. Stymeist