As meteorological summer goes by the wayside, it’s fair to say that August was the black sheep of the three summer months.

That’s because every major trend that June and July had begun was flipped on its side by August’s weather. It was also quite the streaky month, as there were significant stretches of weather, only to flip to other kinds of weather for a long period of time.

 

 

The first day of August rode on the coattails of a well-needed cool stretch, which started in late July. The first three days of the month were below 80 degrees, which is much below average. While cool, it was also exceptionally dry. Rogue showers on August 6th spoiled an arid first third of the month, when the area’s second bout of rainfall came through on August 13th. This was especially notable in Northern Mahoning and Southern Trumbull counties, where rainfall totals exceeded three inches, prompting flash flood warnings.

 

 

The area’s 11th and 12th 90-degree days of the year came just before, coincidentally on the 11th and 12th of the month. By the halfway mark of the month, the airport had recorded 11-straight above-average temperature days, while lagging in rainfall. The tides turned later in the month, when the area’s first true fall-like air mass moved through, accompanied by cool, dry air. Another eight-day-long streak of its own developed, with the area sustaining below-average temperatures until the end of the month. As air masses came and went, one thing was for certain: dry weather. While no days had places in the record books, the nights of August 30th & 31st were a single degree shy of record low territory. 

Officially, the airport’s average temperature throughout the month was recorded at 68.0°F. This takes into account the observed high and low temperatures each day. This is 2.0°F below the average July temperature of 70.0°F. While not a historically cold month by any means, this month happened to be the coldest August since 2008.

 

 

Rainfall tends to slow down as the summer goes on, with August’s average rainfall being 3.24”, over an inch below July’s rainfall. However, the month was quite dry across the region. The monthly observation of 1.35” is less than half of the typical monthly rainfall of 3.24”. This was the driest August at the airport since 1991.

 

 

It is important to note, however, that a localized flooding event happened in northern Mahoning and southern Trumbull counties on the 13th, prompting those areas to see totals closer to average. Because of dry weather elsewhere, abnormally dry drought conditions have popped up in Columbiana County.

 

 

The summer also started on an uncomfortably muggy note. We were mentioning dew points like crazy during June and July, combining for the far-and-away muggiest summer season in Valley history, though dry, cool weather bucked this trend in August.

 

 

How does this impact Youngstown’s yearly weather trends? Now that over half of the year is complete, we can begin to discern how 2025 will play out compared to climatology. A trend-bucking August has reversed course on a presently warm and wet year compared to average. To date, the year remains just 0.15°F above its all-time average, though still the coldest start to a calendar year since 2015. Two dry months of July and August took the precipitation surplus to just over half an inch above average- a minuscule departure. The airport has taken in 28.15” of rain this year, with the average just above 27  1⁄2 inches.

 

 

 

For further information, check out Gavin’s analysis of the past two months’ weather: