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

A "NORMALLY" FINE SEPTEMBER FOR THE BUFFALO 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 62.7 WAS ABOUT A DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL. 
ALTHOUGH MOST OF THE MONTH SAW PLEASANT TEMPERATURES...THERE WAS A 
LATE SEASON HEAT WAVE ON 7-9TH. THE 89 DEGREE READING ON THE 8TH 
TIED THE RECORD MAXIMUM FOR THE DATE FROM 1960...WHILE THE 90 DEGREE 
READING ON THE 9TH WAS BUFFALO'S FIRST 90-DEGREE TEMPERATURE IN 
SEPTEMBER SINCE 1973. CONVERSELY...THE FINAL WEEK WAS QUITE COOL 
WITH THE MERCURY JUST BARELY REACHING 50 ON THE 26TH.

MONTHLY RAINFALL TOTALED A NORMAL 3.45 INCHES...BUT THIS IS 
DECEIVING AS OVER THREE INCHES OF THIS FELL BETWEEN 24TH AND 27TH. 
THIS INCLUDED A GENERAL RAINFALL OF NEARLY AN INCH ON THE 25TH AND 
HEAVY LAKE EFFECT RAINS ON 26TH.

SUNSHINE 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 
SEVERE AGAIN AS ONLY 0.44 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 NEARLY AN INCH OF MUCH NEEDED RAINFALL ON 24-25TH. 
THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY AN UNUSUALLY INTENSE LAKE EFFECT RAIN EPISODE 
WHICH DROPPED AS MUCH AS THREE INCHES OF RAIN ACROSS PORTIONS OF 
BUFFALO AND ITS NORTHERN SUBURBS ON THE 25-26TH. 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 LAKE ERIE DROPPED TO 
62 BY MONTH'S END...TWO DEGREES COOLER THAN USUAL FOR THE DATE. 
AND...THE 90 DEGREE READING ON THE 9TH BROUGHT THE 2001 TOTAL AT 
BUFFALO TO 9 DAYS. THIS IS TRIPLE THE NORMAL OF THREE, AND THE MOST 
SINCE 1988 WHEN 18 SUCH DAYS WERE RECORDED. 

BUFFALO'S SEPTEMBER STATISTICS FOLLOW... 

TEMPERATURE DATA
AVERAGE MAXIMUM............ 71.8 
AVERAGE MINIMUM............ 53.5
AVERAGE MONTHLY............ 62.7
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL...... PLUS 0.8 
HIGHEST.................... 90 ON THE 9TH 
LOWEST..................... 41 ON THE 30TH

NUMBER OF DAYS 
MAXIMUM 90 DEGREES OR HIGHER.... 1
MAXIMUM 80 DEGREES OR HIGHER.... 4
MINIMUM 70 DEGREES OR HIGHER.... 2 
MINIMUM 32 DEGREES OR LOWER.... 0 

HEATING DEGREE DAYS...BASE 65.. 127 
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.......... MINUS 3 
SEASON TOTAL FROM JULY 1....... 145 
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.......... MINUS 7 

COOLING DEGREE DAYS...BASE 65.. 64
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.......... PLUS 27
SEASON TOTAL FROM JANUARY 1.... 633
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.......... PLUS 156

PRECIPITATION DATA
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH............ 3.45 INCHES 
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.......... MINUS 0.04 INCH
GREATEST IN 24 HOURS........... 1.43 INCHES ON THE 25-26TH 
TOTAL FOR THE YEAR............ 21.01 INCHES
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.......... MINUS 6.98 INCHES

NUMBER OF DAYS
WITH 0.01 INCH PRECIPITATION OR MORE....... 12 
WITH 0.10 INCH PRECIPITATION OR MORE....... 4 
WITH 0.50 INCH PRECIPITATION OR MORE....... 3
WITH 1.00 INCH PRECIPITATION OR MORE....... 1

BAROMETRIC PRESSURE
HIGHEST....... 30.35 INCHES ON THE 14TH
LOWEST........ 29.75 INCHES ON THE 25TH

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

AVERAGE WIND SPEED........... 8.4 MPH
PEAK GUST............... 39 MPH FROM THE S ON THE 25TH

MCLAUGHLIN