A record-setting summer for southern Wisconsin

Milwaukee had its hottest summer on record, drought swept across Wisconsin, and temperatures jumped into the nineties at the end of August. These are just some of the highlights from this year’s meteorological summer.

The hottest area was the southwest corner of the state, stretching from Prairie du Chien to Madison.

Meteorologist Morgan Brooks is with the National Weather Service in Sullivan, which covers southeast Wisconsin. She says Madison had its third warmest summer on record and Milwaukee had its hottest yet, and that’s looking at 140 years of data.”We’ve had a trend the past three summers of it being warmer than normal. That could just be coincidence or it could be something bigger.”

In August, temperatures dropped below average. That broke a ten-month streak where temperatures were above average across most of Wisconsin.

And, of course, there’s the drought. It continues through the southern half of the state, ranging from extreme drought to abnormally dry.

Meteorologist Andrew Just is with the National Weather Service in La Crosse. He says the dry conditions influenced the heat.”That lack of precipitation helped to propel some of our temperatures up to the records they were at.,” he says.”You can have a little drier atmosphere and when it’s dry out there you can heat up.”

For the fall, it’s more likely that temperatures will be above average. Brooks says drought conditions are predicted to improve, but it’s going to take a lot of rain to get back to normal.