SACRAMENTO, California —
While August may be the last month of meteorological summer (June 1 – Aug. 31), the heat won't be going away anytime soon.
Hope remains August can be average in terms of high temperature, in part due to the remaining chilly water off the California coast. Even an average August features seven triple digit days, however, the average high temperature is 93.5 degrees.
“SSTs (sea surface temperatures) along the U.S. West Coast are below-average and could offset the above-average temperature signal along the coast that would be expected from the forecast ridging. As such, Equal Chances is forecast for most of California,” wrote the Climate Prediction Center in their 3-4 week outlook discussion.
The cold patch of water, stretching from the West Coast all the way south of Hawaii, is slowly starting to be eaten away by the warmer than average SSTs in the Northern Pacific. Regardless, the cooler waters will most likely persist through the summer and could help moderate temperatures for the time being.
The Climate Prediction Center predicts an average August, in terms of temperature, for much of the coast and a portion of the Central Valley but is leaning slightly above average for the rest of the state. Sacramento sits within the “average” region.
August is indeed off to a mild start following a very hot July. Another weekend heat event is on tap with temperatures expected to be well over 100 in the Central Valley Saturday and Sunday before another cooldown for the workweek.
August typically sees a modest drop off in average high temperatures from Aug. 1, where the average high is 95 to the end of the month that sees an average high of 92.
The first day the average high temperature dips below 90 in Sacramento is all the way in mid-September (Sept. 17) and last September featured a heatwave that shattered the city’s all-time record temperature.
August is still very much within the dry season for California. Sacramento averages 0.02" of rain during August, so even no rain is average for the city during the dry summer months. Therefore, the CPC puts California in the "average" territory even though rain is not likely to fall, apart from in Sierra thunderstorm events.
