Now that August is in the books, how did it stand up to a normal August? Well, this summer has been a bit unusual in the sense that we had a tough time getting a persistent "normal" weather pattern. We had the reverse pattern a lot during the summer months of June through August. But, over the last week of August, the east wind really set up giving us daily late day heavy thunderstorms. Most areas west of I-75 ended up with above normal rainfall, and some were quite a bit above. The inland spots did have lesser amounts generally but those spots had very wet months in June and July.

Here is a look at the numbers for August

Tampa

Average Temp: 83.0 (0.7 degrees above average)

Rainfall 14.6 inches (6.83 inches above average)

Summer Rainfall 23.59 inches (2.07 inches above average)

Lakeland

Average Temp: 83.7 (1.4 degrees above average)

Rainfall 6.86 inches (1.64 inches below average)

Summer Rainfall 30.85 inches (6.84 inches above average)

Bradenton

Average Temp: 82.7 (0.5 degrees above average)

Rainfall 4.62 inches (4.52 inches below average)

Summer Rainfall 16.86 inches (7.77 inches below average)

Brooksville

Average Temp: 82.4 (1.4 degrees above average)

Rainfall 6.92 inches (0.80 inches below average)

Summer Rainfall 24.46 inches (1.05 inches above average)

Clearwater

Average Temp: 83.6 (0.2 degrees above average)

Rainfall 10.62 inches (2.33 inches above average)

Summer Rainfall 27.69 inches (3.59 inches above average)

St. Petersburg

Average Temp: 84.1 (0.2 degrees above average)

Rainfall 8.06 inches (0.32 inches below average)

Summer Rainfall 20.33 inches (1.77 inches below average)

Looking ahead to a normal September, this is the month when we could get our first cold front and ultimately some drier air. That drying by late month, historically knocks the temps down a bit and lowers the rain totals for the month. By the end of the month, average highs drop to the mid to upper 80s with lows in the lower 70s. Average monthly rainfall is about 6 inches.

The first week or so of this month will have high rain chances as our summer pattern will continue.