MONTHLY WEATHER SUMMARY FOR ROCHESTER 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY 
800 AM EDT MON OCT 1 2001

A "NORMALLY" FINE SEPTEMBER FOR THE ROCHESTER AREA.

THE WARM AND VERY DRY SUMMER OF 2001 CONTINUED ON THROUGH MOST OF 
SEPTEMBER ACROSS WESTERN NEW YORK...BUT A COOL RAINY FINAL WEEK 
PROVIDED SOME MUCH NEEDED RELIEF.

OVERALL...THE MONTH AVERAGED OUT FAIRLY SUNNY WITH NEAR NORMAL 
TEMPERATURES AND RAINFALL.

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 61.2 WAS WITHIN A HALF-DEGREE OF NORMAL. 
ALTHOUGH MOST OF THE MONTH SAW PLEASANT TEMPERATURES...THERE WAS A 
LATE SEASON HEAT WAVE ON 8-9TH WHICH SAW THE MERCURY REACH THE 90 
DEGREE MARK...A RARE OCCURRENCE IN SEPTEMBER. CONVERSELY...THE FINAL 
WEEK WAS QUITE COOL WITH THE MERCURY JUST BARELY REACHING THE 50S 
FROM 26-28TH.

MONTHLY RAINFALL TOTALED A NORMAL 3.15 INCHES..BUT THIS IS DECEIVING 
AS 2.71 INCHES OF THIS FELL BETWEEN 24TH AND 27TH. 

SUNSHINE (AS RECORDED AT NEARBY BUFFALO) TOTALED 62 PERCENT OF THE 
POSSIBLE...SEVEN POINTS ABOVE THE USUAL. THE FIRST THREE WEEKS WERE 
VERY SUNNY WITH OVER 75 PERCENT...BUT THIS WAS PARTIALLY BALANCED 
OUT BY FOUR OVERCAST DAYS FROM 24-27TH. OVERALL...14 DAYS WERE 
MOSTLY SUNNY WHILE JUST SEVEN WERE MOSTLY CLOUDY.

ASIDE FROM THE AFOREMENTIONED HEAT WAVE...THERE WAS LITTLE WEATHER 
OF INTEREST DURING THE FIRST THREE WEEKS. DROUGHT CONDITIONS BECAME 
MODERATE AGAIN AS ONLY 0.34 INCH OF RAIN FELL DURING THE FIRST 23 DAYS 
OF THE MONTH. BUT A DRASTIC CHANGE UNFOLDED DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS 
AS A SLOW MOVING STORM MOVING NORTH FROM PENNSYLVANIA TO CENTRAL NEW 
YORK BROUGHT 1.60 INCHES OF MUCH NEEDED RAINFALL ON 24-25TH. EVEN 
HEAVIER AMOUNTS FELL EAST OF THE CITY WITH NEARLY THREE INCHES AT 
ONTARIO AND VICTOR. NO FLOODING OCCURRED THOUGH BECAUSE OF THE 
PREVIOUSLY DRY CONDITIONS. THE MONTH DID END WITH TWO GLORIOUSLY 
SUNNY CRISP AUTUMN DAYS.

WINDS WERE GENERALLY LIGHT DURING THE MONTH AND WERE OF NO 
CONSEQUENCE. AND...THE 90 DEGREE READINGS ON THE 8TH AND 9TH BROUGHT 
THE 2001 TOTAL TO 13 DAYS. THIS COMPARES TO A NORMAL OF NINE DAYS 
BUT IS THE MOST IN A YEAR SINCE 1995 WHEN 13 SUCH DAYS ALSO 
OCCURRED. IN CONTRAST...ROCHESTER DID NOT RECORD A SINGLE 90-DEGREE 
DAY IN 1998 OR 2000.


ROCHESTER'S SEPTEMBER STATISTICS FOLLOW... 

TEMPERATURE DATA
AVERAGE MAXIMUM............ 70.9 
AVERAGE MINIMUM............ 51.5
AVERAGE MONTHLY............ 61.2
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL...... MINUS 0.5 
HIGHEST.................... 90 ON THE 8TH AND 9TH 
LOWEST..................... 37 ON THE 30TH

NUMBER OF DAYS 
MAXIMUM 90 DEGREES OR HIGHER.... 2
MAXIMUM 80 DEGREES OR HIGHER.... 5 
MINIMUM 70 DEGREES OR HIGHER.... 1 
MINIMUM 32 DEGREES OR LOWER.... 0 

HEATING DEGREE DAYS...BASE 65.. 152 
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.......... PLUS 15 
SEASON TOTAL FROM JULY 1....... 179 
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.......... MINUS 1 

COOLING DEGREE DAYS...BASE 65.. 44
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.......... PLUS 6
SEASON TOTAL FROM JANUARY 1.... 587
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.......... PLUS 162

PRECIPITATION DATA
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH............ 3.15 INCHES 
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.......... PLUS 0.18 INCH
GREATEST IN 24 HOURS........... 1.96 INCHES ON THE 24-25TH
TOTAL FOR THE YEAR............ 23.29 INCHES
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.......... MINUS 0.59 INCH

NUMBER OF DAYS
WITH 0.01 INCH PRECIPITATION OR MORE....... 11 
WITH 0.10 INCH PRECIPITATION OR MORE....... 4 
WITH 0.50 INCH PRECIPITATION OR MORE....... 2
WITH 1.00 INCH PRECIPITATION OR MORE....... 1

BAROMETRIC PRESSURE
HIGHEST....... 30.34 INCHES ON THE 30TH
LOWEST........ 29.71 INCHES ON THE 25TH

PERCENTAGE OF POSSIBLE SUNSHINE..... 62 (234.2 HRS)
(BUFFALO)

AVERAGE WIND SPEED........... 7.4 MPH
PEAK GUST............... 32 MPH FROM THE W ON THE 10TH

MCLAUGHLIN