As we start the month of September, it's time to look back at August and compare how our temperatures and rainfall stacked up across the state of Wisconsin.

Overall, it was a hot and dry month across much of the state.

Lets break things down for the major cities in Wisconsin to see how this past August compared to our historical averages and normals.

The month of August proved to be a hot one in the southeastern part of the state. When we factor in the daily high and low temperatures, we end up with an average monthly temperature of 73.4 degrees, which is 2.7 degrees above average. 

The hottest day of the month was on August 24th when we climbed to a scorching 94 degrees. Overall, we experienced a lot of sunshine with 27 days reporting a fair or partly cloudy sky and just four cloudy days.

We measured a whopping 8.55 inches of rainfall, most of which occurred on the 2nd and 25th of the month. This put us at a staggering 4.58 inches above normal for rainfall for the month and added to our rain surplus for the year.

The average monthly temperature in Madison for August checks in at 70.4 degrees, which is higher than normal by 1.2 degrees. The hottest temperature was recorded on August 27th when the thermometer rose to 91 degrees.

It was much drier than in Milwaukee with rainfall totaling 2.88 inches, putting us 1.39 inches below average for the month. We're still running above average on rainfall for the year by more than 4.00 inches, so the drier month should not have any long term impacts.

It was also a sunny month in Madison with 29 days having a fair or partly cloudy sky and just two cloudy days.

It was a very warm month in Green Bay with an average monthly temperature of 70.0 degrees in August, coming in at 2.7 degrees above normal.

The hottest temperature recorded was 91 degrees on the 26th, and the lowest occurred on the mornings of the 4th and 5th when the thermometer dropped all the way to 48 degrees.

It was also a dry month compared to normal with 2.32 inches of total rainfall, a departure from normal of -1.05 inches.

Green Bay saw plenty of sunshine throughout August with 30 days of fair to partly cloudy skies and just one day of total cloud cover.

La Crosse end up with the 11th warmest August on record with 10 days of temperatures at or above 90 degrees and a montly average temperature of 74.2 degrees, which is 2.8 degrees above normal.

A record daily temperature of 97 degrees was tied on August 26th. That record was previously set in 2013.

Monthly rainfall totaled 3.90 inches which was just 0.39 inches below average. More than half of the rainfall for the month fell on the 31st when 1.98 inches was recorded.

It was a warm month in Wausau with an average temperature of 68.6 degrees, 1.3 degrees above normal. The highest temperature was recorded on the 26th when the city reached 90 degrees.

It was also a very dry month with only 1.86 inches of total rainfall measured. This falls short of the historical monthly average of 4.16 inches by more than 2.00 inches.

In spite of the dry month, precipitation in Wausau is still above average on rainfall for the year by more than 4.00 inches.

Of all the cities across Wisconsin, Rhinelander ended the month with the overall temperature and precipitation fairly close to normal.

The average temperature for the month was 65.3 degrees, less than half a degree above normal. The hottest temperature was recorded on the 26th when Rhinelander reached 86 degrees.

2.84 inches of rain fell during August which was just slightly below the historical average of 3.29 inches.

Rhinelander had 28 fair or partly cloudy days and 3 days of cloud cover during the month.