Boerne is perhaps experiencing its worst combined hot and dry summer on record as the month of July provided no relief to the extreme conditions experienced since May and before.
In fact, the daily average high temperature last month was almost 100 degrees, or about 7 degrees above normal. Also, even though 1.62 inches of rain was measured in July, it all fell on one day and still was more than an inch below normal.
Since May 1, Boerne Stage Field has experienced 18 record-high temperature days, according to information from the National Weather Service office in New Braunfels, the station that keeps track of Boerne’s weather. Five of those records were set in May, another nine in June and four in July.
There was also one record high in January and two in April.
In comparison, during that same three-month period – May through July – the closest year as far as recording record highs is 1925, when 11 were set. After that comes 1985 with five and 1912 and 2011 with four.
Weather statistics have been kept in Boerne since the late 19th century.
July’s high temperature was 106, reached on the 12th. The all-time record for July is 109 degrees, set in 1925.
The month’s average high temperature was 99.4 degrees. The lowest high for the month was 94. On 13 days, the thermometer reached triple digits, including seven days in a row from July 9-15.
The average actual temperature for the month was 85.6 degrees, or almost 4 degrees above normal. On 25 days, the low stayed in the 70s. The coolest reading was 67. The “coolest” day was July 1 when the average temperature for the 24-hour period was 82 degrees.
As far as precipitation, the city has recorded 7.85 inches through the first seven months of the year. The mean amount through July is 20.58 inches, leading to an average annual total of 36.29.
From January through April, less than one inch of precipitation was recorded in Boerne each month. May produced 2.09 inches and June ended with 1.49.
July’s precipitation all fell on the 15th.
The extremely hot and dry weather this year is being compared to 2011, the last year a major drought with extreme heat affected the area. That year, Boerne received 17.76 inches of precipitation, but only seven record high temperatures were set. Three years earlier, 2008, only 14.74 inches of rain fell on the city, but the thermometer never reached 100 degrees. In 2011, five months
In 2011, five months experienced less than an inch of precipitation with March and August bringing next to none with 0.02 and 0.04 inches, respectively. In October and December a combined, 8.7 inches, or about half of the year’s total, was recorded. In fact, during the last four months of the year, 71 percent of the year’s total precipitation accumulated.
As far as temperatures that year, the first 100-degree reading was recorded on May 26. June had three 100-degree days, followed by two in July, 13 in August and two in September. The thermometer never reached 90 after that through the end of the year.
This year, there have been 19 days of 100 degrees or higher, all coming in June and July, with the traditionally hottest month of the year starting this week.
The high so far this year is 106. In 2011, it was 107. The all-time high temperature reached in Boerne is 112 set in August 1925.
Based on the 7.85 inches of rain this year over 7 months, Boerne is on track to accumulate about 13.5 inches for 2022.
Virtually all of Kendall County, except for the extreme northeast portion, is in exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. That’s the worst degree of drought possible.
The forecast through the weekend calls for more of the same with highs in the upper 90s and lows in the 70s. There is no rain in the short-term forecast.
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