Manilla Prospect in July

Through most of the month, days were fine and sunny, but some days, mainly in the middle, were cloudy and some had a little rain. The highest reading, on the 16th, was only 7.4 mm.
No days were remarkable except the 28th which, at 23.7°, equalled the record for July set 31/07/14. It was 6.1° above normal.
Frosts (below +2.2° in the screen) happened on 23 mornings, 6 more than normal. However, the coldest morning, at -2.6°, was not nearly as cold as the record of -5.1° set in 2002.

Comparing July months

Unlike July 2016, which had been cloudy with warm nights, this July was fine with cold nights. Days, at 18.1°, were not quite as warm as in July 2013 (18.9°), the warmest in the new century.
Moisture was scarce, as in the record-making July of 2002. Readings that reflected low moisture were:

Daily minimum temperature very low: +1.2° (2002: 0.9°);
Very many frosts: 23 (2002: 27);
Very low percentage of cloudy mornings: 29% (2002: 23%);
Very low early morning dew point: -1.4° (2002: -1.4°);
Very wide daily temperature range: 16.9° (2002: 18.5°);
Very low rainfall: 13.2 mm (2002: 1.0 mm).

Relative humidity in the early mornings, normally 90% in July, was 74%. That was the lowest July value in my 13-year record.
Despite the total rainfall of 13.2 mm (16th percentile) being far below the July average (41 mm), there are still no shortages of rainfall for groups of months. The most recent serious shortage was nearly two years ago. In October 2015, the 30-month total to that date (1216 mm) was still down at the 6th percentile. That shortage was carried over from an earlier extreme event: the 85 mm summer rainfall of 2013-14 that was 142 mm below average.

Data. A Bureau of Meteorology automatic rain gauge operates in the museum yard. From 17 March 2017, 9 am daily readings are published as Manilla Museum, Station 55312.  These reports use that rainfall data when it is available. All other data, including subsoil at 750 mm, are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.