...MEMPHIS CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY FOR 1997... 

TEMPERATURES AVERAGED BELOW NORMAL AND PRECIPITATION WAS MUCH
ABOVE NORMAL AT THE MEMPHIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FOR THE YEAR 1997.

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR 1997 WAS 61.3 DEGREES WHICH IS BELOW
THE NORMAL OF 62.3 DEGREES. THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS 70.3
DEGREES (1.8 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL). THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE
WAS 52.3 DEGREES (0.1 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL). 

THIS FOLLOWING TABLE SHOWS THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE BY MONTH:

MONTH		      AVG TEMP.   	DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL
JANUARY		 	39.7			 0.0
FEBRUARY		47.5			+3.3	
MARCH		 	56.7			+3.6
APRIL 		 	57.9			-5.0
MAY 			67.9			-3.3
JUNE 			75.7			-3.4
JULY			82.5			-0.1
AUGUST		 	79.3			-1.7
SEPTEMBER		74.7			+0.5
OCTOBER		 	62.6			-0.5
NOVEMBER		48.4			-4.1
DECEMBER 		42.3			-1.4
..................................................................
YEAR			61.3			-1.0	

THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED DURING 1997 WAS 99 DEGREES ON
JULY 26TH AND 28TH. THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE IN 1997 WAS 8 DEGREES
ON JANUARY 11TH.

THE LAST FREEZE OF THE 1996-97 WINTER SEASON OCCURRED ON MARCH 16TH
WHILE THE FIRST FREEZE IN THE FALL OCCURRED ON NOVEMBER 16TH. THIS MADE
THE GROWING SEASON 245 DAYS LONG WHICH IS ABOVE THE LONG TERM NORMAL
OF 230 DAYS.

DURING THE YEAR...THERE WERE 36 DAYS WHEN THE LOW TEMPERATURE DROPPED
BELOW THE FREEZING POINT AND THERE WERE 6 DAYS WHEN THE MAXIMUM
TEMPERATURE FAILED TO RISE ABOVE THE FREEZING POINT. 

HIGH TEMPERATURES OF 90 DEGREES OR HIGHER WERE RECORDED ON 50 DAYS IN
1997. ALSO...THERE WERE 11 DAYS WHEN THE MERCURY REACHED 95 DEGREES OR
GREATER.

THE HEATING DEGREE DAY TOTAL FOR THE YEAR WAS 3143 WHICH WAS 61 ABOVE
NORMAL. THE COOLING DEGREE DAY TOTAL FOR THE YEAR WAS 1889 WHICH WAS
229 BELOW NORMAL. 

TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...INCLUDING RAIN AND MELTED ICE PELLETS
(SLEET) AND SNOW. AMOUNTED TO 71.94 INCHES WHICH WAS 19.84 INCHES ABOVE
NORMAL. THIS WAS THE FOURTH HIGHEST AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION IN ONE YEAR
SINCE RECORDS BEGAN BACK IN 1872. 

THE FOLLOWING TABLE SHOWS PRECIPITATION STATISTICS FOR EACH MONTH:

MONTH              PRECIPITATION        DEPARTURE   RAIN DAYS
JANUARY 		4.37 		+0.64 		10 
FEBRUARY 		7.63 		+3.28 		10
MARCH 			11.28		+5.87 		12 
APRIL 			8.91		+3.45 		12
MAY 			8.00 		+3.02 		9
JUNE 			6.75  		+3.18 		15 
JULY 			4.35 		+0.56 		7 
AUGUST 			4.01 		+0.58 		8 
SEPTEMBER 		6.31 		+2.78 		6 
OCTOBER 		4.06 		+1.05 		7 
NOVEMBER 		1.75  		-3.35 		8 
DECEMBER 		4.52 		-1.22 		9 
..................................................................
YEAR                   	71.94           +19.84      	113

THE MARCH TOTAL WAS THE FOURTH GREATEST TOTAL FOR MARCH. THE SEPTEMBER
TOTAL WAS THE EIGHTH GREATEST TOTAL FOR SEPTEMBER.

MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION...DEFINED AS 0.01 INCH OR MORE...FELL ON 113 DAYS
WHICH IS ABOVE THE AVERAGE OF 107 DAYS. THE GREATEST AMOUNT THAT FELL
IN A 24 HOUR PERIOD WAS 3.25 INCHES ON SEPTEMBER 23RD.

THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 1997 WERE THE SECOND WETTEST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN
BACK IN 1872 WITH 46.94 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION. THE WETTEST FIRST SIX MONTHS
OCCURRED IN 1882 WHEN 48.74 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL.

SNOWFALL...WHICH INCLUDES SNOW AND ICE PELLETS (SLEET)...TOTALED 4.5 INCHES
WHICH IS BELOW THE LONG TERM AVERAGE OF 5.7 INCHES. THIS WAS THE NINTH YEAR
IN A ROW THAT SNOWFALL WAS BELOW NORMAL IN MEMPHIS.