August 2021 Climate Report for Memphis, TN

With summer finally arriving in mid-July, it was not likely to let up heading into the hottest month of the year – and it did not. Twenty of thirty days reached 90 degrees and the average temperature for the month ended about a degree above normal. That above average temperature was driven entirely by overnight lows however. The average high of 91.5 was right at normal, while overnight lows averaged two degrees above normal. including one record high minimum temperature on the 26th (79 degrees).

A dry trend that started as the heat built in late July extended through August with less than 2.5 inches of rain falling for the month at the airport and even less (by about an inch) in Bartlett. The wettest day of the month at the airport, the 13th, was also the only day of measurable rainfall in the first two and a half weeks of August. Rain days became more common the last two weeks. That wet day also had the only report of severe weather for the month. Localized heavy rainfall of multiple inches fell in the afternoon resulting in flooding that stalled vehicles in East Memphis along Poplar Avenue. There were no Severe Thunderstorm Warnings issued in the metro in August.