August Weather in Great Basin National Park United StatesDaily high temperatures decrease by 5°F, from 86°F to 81°F, rarely falling below 73°F or exceeding 92°F. Daily low temperatures decrease by 5°F, from 51°F to 46°F, rarely falling below 38°F or exceeding 59°F. For reference, on July 17, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Great Basin National Park typically range from 51°F to 87°F, while on December 30, the coldest day of the year, they range from 13°F to 38°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on August. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. CloudsThe month of August in Great Basin National Park experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 18% throughout the month. The clearest day of the month is August 18, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 83% of the time. For reference, on February 29, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 49%, while on September 7, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 83%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Great Basin National Park, the chance of a wet day over the course of August is essentially constant, remaining around 12% throughout. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 17% on May 2, and its lowest chance is 6% on June 29. RainfallTo show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during August in Great Basin National Park is essentially constant, remaining about 0.6 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 1.5 inches. SunOver the course of August in Great Basin National Park, the length of the day is rapidly decreasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day decreases by 1 hour, 7 minutes, implying an average daily decrease of 2 minutes, 14 seconds, and weekly decrease of 15 minutes, 35 seconds. The shortest day of the month is August 31, with 13 hours, 2 minutes of daylight and the longest day is August 1, with 14 hours, 9 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the month in Great Basin National Park is 5:38 AM on August 1 and the latest sunrise is 27 minutes later at 6:05 AM on August 31. The latest sunset is 7:47 PM on August 1 and the earliest sunset is 40 minutes earlier at 7:07 PM on August 31. Daylight saving time is observed in Great Basin National Park during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during August, so the entire month is in standard time. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:11 AM and sets 14 hours, 54 minutes later, at 8:05 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:52 AM and sets 9 hours, 26 minutes later, at 4:18 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for August 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.
HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Great Basin National Park is essentially constant during August, remaining around 0% throughout. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Great Basin National Park is essentially constant during August, remaining within 0.1 miles per hour of 7.2 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on April 6, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 9.1 miles per hour, while on October 7, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 6.8 miles per hour. The hourly average wind direction in Great Basin National Park throughout August is predominantly from the south, with a peak proportion of 56% on August 16. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). The growing season in Great Basin National Park typically lasts for 3.1 months (96 days), from around June 10 to around September 13, rarely starting before May 19 or after June 28, and rarely ending before August 27 or after October 1. The month of August in Great Basin National Park is more likely than not fully within the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season decreasing from 99% to 84% over the course of the month. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Great Basin National Park are rapidly increasing during August, increasing by 526°F, from 1,359°F to 1,885°F, over the course of the month. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Great Basin National Park is gradually decreasing during August, falling by 1.0 kWh, from 7.7 kWh to 6.7 kWh, over the course of the month. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Great Basin National Park are 38.946 deg latitude, -114.258 deg longitude, and 0 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Great Basin National Park is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 0 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 0 feet. Within 10 miles is also essentially flat (0 feet). Within 50 miles is also essentially flat (0 feet). The area within 2 miles of Great Basin National Park is covered by trees (64%) and shrubs (34%), within 10 miles by shrubs (56%) and trees (39%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (83%) and trees (14%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Great Basin National Park, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. The details of the data sources used for this report can be found on the Ely Airport-Yelland Field page. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |