NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY
JULY 2020
1-4: Heavy showers dotted the upper Midwest and northern sections of the Rockies and Plains, generally benefiting spring-sown crops but causing local flooding. Another area of significant rainfall affected the middle and lower Mississippi Valley. Parts
of Florida also received heavy rain. Daily-record totals in Florida included 2.13 inches (on July 4) in Melbourne and 1.74 inches (on July 3) in Vero Beach. Along the Gulf Coast of Florida, however, June ended with 16 consecutive days with no measurable
rain in Saint Petersburg (Albert Whitted Airport); the previous rainy-season (June-September) record of 14 days was set from September 8-21, 2005. Records were also set in Brooksville (15 days without measurable rain from June 15-29) and Saint Petersburg-
Clearwater (17 days from June 14-30); previous records in both locations had also been set in September 2005. Farther north, heavy showers dampened portions of the middle and northern Atlantic States. On July 1, for example, daily-record totals included
3.77 inches in New Bern, NC, and 1.95 inches in Atlantic City, NJ. Meanwhile in the Mississippi Valley, record-setting amounts for June 30 reached 2.22 inches in Quincy, IL, and 2.03 inches in Paducah, KY. Quincy’s 4-day (June 28 – July 1) rainfall
totaled 6.58 inches, with at least an inch falling each day. However, some of the week’s most impressive rainfall developed across northern sections of the Rockies and Plains. In Idaho, record-setting amounts for June 28 included 0.94 inch in Idaho
Falls and 0.54 inch in Lewiston. On the 29th in Montana, Great Falls—with a total of 2.05 inches—reported its wettest day since October 3, 2015, and wettest June day since June 2, 2005. The 30th was the wettest June day on record in Grand Forks, ND,
with the 4.26-inch total tying June 9, 2002.
5-11: Tropical Storm Fay, which made landfall in New Jersey on July 10, delivered locally heavy rain and gusty winds in parts of the Middle Atlantic States. However, Fay’s footprint of rain and wind was relatively small—and flood impacts were minor
as the rain largely fell in areas that had been trending dry. A disturbance that later became Tropical Storm Fay crossed the Southeast early in the week, generating locally heavy showers. In Florida, record-setting rainfall totals for July 5 included 4.
06 inches in West Palm Beach and 3.87 inches in Vero Beach. Two days later, on the 7th, Augusta, GA, experienced its wettest July day on record. Augusta’s 4.64-inch total edged the former record of 4.58 inches, set on July 29, 1887. Meanwhile, a series
of weak cold fronts crossed the Midwest. On July 6, Marquette, MI, netted a daily-record rainfall of 1.95 inches. The following day, Zanesville, OH, received 1.92 inches, a record for July 7. Locally heavy showers extended as far west as the Plains,
where Waco, TX, collected a daily-record amount (2.67 inches) for July 7. However, some of the rainfall across the nation’s mid-section was accompanied by thunderstorm-related high winds. On July 7 in North Dakota, for example, wind gusts were clocked
to 82 mph in Garrison, 69 mph in Williston, and 63 mph in Bismarck. Another round of severe weather on July 11 produced wind gusts to 80 mph in Moline, IL; 65 mph in Oklahoma City, OK; and 58 mph in Mankato, MN. A few monsoon-related thunderstorms began
to form in the Southwest, where Pioneer Airfield in Cochise, AZ, registered a wind gust to 79 mph on July 11. Rainfall related to Tropical Storm Fay mainly fell on July 10, when daily-record totals reached 4.15 inches in Philadelphia, PA; 3.63 inches in
Georgetown, DE; 2.78 inches in Newark, NJ; and 2.54 inches at New York’s Central Park. Wind gusts on July 10 reached 44 mph in Atlantic City, NJ; 43 mph in Georgetown; and 42 mph in Philadelphia.
12-18: Heavy showers also dotted the central Plains, where Goodland, KS, collected a record-setting total (1.96 inches) for July 13. Elsewhere in Kansas, weekly rainfall in Dodge City totaled 4.89 inches, with at least an inch falling on July 12, 14, and
17. Meanwhile, eastern parts of Florida’s peninsula remained wet, with Daytona Beach netting a daily-record amount (2.35 inches) for July 14. Mid-week showers became heavy in parts of the Midwest, where daily-record totals for July 15 included 1.52
inches in Gaylord, MI, and 1.34 inches in Saint Louis, MO. Elsewhere on the 15th, Peoria, IL, experienced its wettest July day on record. Peoria, with a 5.19-inch daily total, also reported its second-wettest day on record behind 5.52 inches on May 18,
1927. The wettest July day in Peoria had been July 17, 1895, when 4.09 inches fell. In contrast, July 1-18 rainfall totaled just 0.53 inch (10 percent of normal) in Fort Myers, FL; 0.36 inch (15 percent) in Charlottesville, VA; and 0.12 inch (5 percent)
in Springfield, MO. In Texas, no measurable rain fell from July 1-18 in Austin and San Antonio.
26-31: The remnants of Hurricane Hanna produced early-week downpours in southern Texas. Subsequently, the focus for heavy showers shifted northward, primarily in the vicinity of a cold front stretching from the central Plains into the mid-Atlantic.
Selected peak wind gusts from Hanna reached 63 mph in Harlingen and 59 mph in McAllen. Farther north, the week began with heavy rain falling in portions of the Great Lakes States. July 25- 26 rainfall in Mankato, MN, totaled 5.57 inches, while daily-
record totals for the 26th in Michigan reached 3.59 inches in Alpena and 2.44 inches in Sault Sainte Marie. As the week progressed, the heaviest showers shifted to the Gulf Coast region and an area stretching from the central Plains into the lower
Midwest. Daily-record rainfall totals topped 2 inches in locations such as Fort Wayne, IN (2.24 inches on July 27); Saint Louis, MO (2.34 inches on July 30); Topeka, KS (2.53 inches on July 29); New Iberia, LA (2.84 inches on July 28); and Jackson, MS (3.
48 inches on August 1). A few heavy showers also peppered the southern Atlantic States, leading to daily-record amounts in Columbia, SC (3.83 inches on July 29), and New Bern, NC (3.04 inches on August 1).

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