After an extremely dry June, the local rainfall total rose significantly during July — yet Surry County remains “abnormally dry,” according to the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council.
Mount Airy received 6.78 inches of precipitation last month, based on a breakdown from F.G. Doggett Water Plant, the city’s official weather-monitoring station.
That is almost two inches more that the 4.90-inch all-time average for July in Mount Airy, where weather records have been kept since 1924.
In June, only 1.35 inches of rain had been logged at the water plant, much of that on a single day.
July had 16 days of measurable precipitation, with the largest output for a single day 1.12 inches on July 17.
For 2024 as a whole, as of July 31, Mount Airy totaled 32.65 inches of precipitation, which is 3.59 inches, or 12.4%, above normal for the first seven months of the year.
Mount Airy historically has averaged 29.06 inches during that period.
Fog was observed at the water plant on 15 days last month.
Drought monitor
Despite last month’s rainfall rebound, Surry County remains at an abnormally dry stage under the most recent statewide evaluation on July 30.
That involves a weekly process by the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council.
Much of western North Carolina has the abnormally dry label, although the southeastern corner of neighboring Yadkin County was listed as being at a “severe drought” stage at last report.
Yadkin is the only one of North Carolina’s 100 counties at that level.
Meanwhile, the abnormally dry situation facing Surry and other affected counties is accompanied by lawns being brown, dry pastures, the noting of mild crop stress and increased irrigation.
Warming trend
July also was noticeably warmer that usual in Mount Airy, where the average temperature for the month was nearly two degrees above the local norm, 77.2 degrees compared to 75.5.
While no temperature records were broken during July, a 97-degree reading on the 16th of the month emerged as the high for the month.
On the other end of the scale, a pair of 53-degree readings on both July 2-3 took low-temperature honors.
Hottest July ever?
While some parts of the U.S. reported their hottest July on record, this did not pan out in Mount Airy, where that month has been much warmer many times in the past.
July 1942, when the mercury averaged 79.5 degrees, is the hottest July on record locally, according to figures from F.G. Doggett Water Plant.
The July temperature has averaged above 78 degrees a total of 11 years in Mount Airy, all before 2000, with 25 years occurring in which that month registered 77 or above.
Those who thought this past July was bad might find some comfort in the fact that July 1930 in Mount Airy subjected local folks to an average high temperature of 94.3 degrees, based on earlier stats from the water plant.
This was before air-conditioning, with the mercury hitting 90 degrees or better on 27 of July’s 31 days in 1930 and six days when it was 100 degrees or higher.
In contrast, last month’s average high temperature was 88.5 degrees, derived by combining daily highs and lows.
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