USA National Forecast

August Temperatures to Remain Cool in the Heartland As Heat Bakes the West, Northeast

At a Glance

The Plains, Midwest and Southeast will be cooler than average in August.
Heat and dry weather will continue in the West.
Warmer-than-average temperatures are also expected in the Northeast.

Temperatures in August are expected to be cooler than average in the Heartland while the West and Northeast remain above average, according to the latest outlook from The Weather Company, an IBM Business.

A familiar weather pattern, a deep southward dip in the jet stream east of the Rockies, will hold into August.

That jet stream pattern brought slightly cooler air to the Plains and Midwest in late July. More of the same is expected in August. Below-average temperatures are mostly likely from South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas to parts of Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota.

But August won't be cooler than average everywhere east of the Rockies.

Above-average temperatures are expected to build in the Northeast, including along the Interstate 95 urban corridor. This is due to above-average Atlantic Ocean water temperatures and the fact that the region will be too far away from the cooling effects of the Midwestern jet stream dip.

The West and Southwest will remain sweltering in August as the jet stream bulges northward over that region.

A large area along the West Coast from Washington to California will see hotter-than-average temperatures in August. Parts of California may see temperatures much above average.

Dr. Todd Crawford, chief meteorologist at The Weather Company, says that recent heat and lack of appreciable rainfall will make it easier to retain, and perhaps, increase heating across the southern Plains, Southwest and West.

Drier-than-average conditions are expected to continue into August in Texas, which will lower any chance of cooler-than-average air.

What We Usually See in August

August is typically the warmest month for much of the southern Plains, the Dakotas and along the immediate Pacific coast from Washington to California.

Warmest day of the year on average.
(NOAA)

The rest of the country begins to cool off.

For most, this translates to afternoon temperatures in the 80s and 90s. The desert Southwest remains the hot spot in the country with highs above the century mark.

The northern tier cools into the 70s as cool fronts begin to pass through the borderlands again.

Overnight temperatures begin to drop as well. Slightly lower humidity allows lows to drop in much of the East into the 50s and 60s while the Gulf Coast remains in the 70s with humidity still hanging tight.

Overnight temperatures remain in the 70s and even the 80s in the desert Southwest with monsoonal moisture still flowing in from the Pacific.

The coolest air is typically found in the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies where temperatures drop off into the 40s and 50s.