3,000 Low Temp Records Set This July! UPDATE: It's not just the surface land temps -- Blog reader Tim points out "Water temps at Frying Pan Shoals (off Cape Fear) fell to 78 degrees a few days ago; NDBC historical data shows this occurs only 0.3% of the time in July!" Here's a look at the weekly departure from normal sea-surface temperatures: This is not the case away from the Carolina coast; most of the Atlantic that we would be concerned with for Hurricane season is normal or slightly above normal - there are other factors keeping that activity down. ORIGINAL ENTRY: Here are some stats and maps regarding the unusually cold July that is happening over a large portion of the U.S., especially the Northeast quadrant (yes, it's been unusually hot in the SW, see below). Note: Since I am on vacation at the end of the month, I will not be able to update these but AccuWeather.com will be running news articles about how cool July was in these areas, come the first week in August. First, some stats. 1,044 daily record low temperatures have been broken this month nationwide according to NCDC -- count record "low highs" and the number increases to 2,925, surely to pass 3,000 before the end of the month. Some thoughts on the 'low highs" below.* The period of July 17-20 was the worst, with over 1,600 stations breaking records. It's worth noting that these stats include all records across the nation. Of the record lows, through July 20th (thanks to William Schmitz @ SERCC, check out their Twitter Feed), this was the regional breakdown: Nationwide: 966 Southeast (AL/GA/FL/NC/SC/VA): 248 Northeast (MD/DE/PA/NJ/NY/CT/RI/MA/NH/VT/ME): 193 Next, a map of the Departure from Average temperatures so far in July (yes, we have one week left). Yes, that's a "-10.0" in Pennsylvania - double digit deficits over a month are rare indeed. Note that there are no positive numbers. Even if you zoom out to the U.S. you'll see the majority of stations are reporting departures below normal thus far -- only Arizona, New Mexico and Texas have all stations reporting above normal. The lowest temperatures of the month are also impressive, with 50s in every state and 40s in most, some 30s. Normally temperatures are peaking in July. And finally I'll repeat this map which shows the lack of 85-degree days in the Northeast through July 20th. Note that the Northern Plains are not immune from the chilly weather either; Mark Vogan says that Minneapolis hasn't failed to hit 90 in the last 15 years. (Mark has some other good stats too). *I was especially impressed by the latter stat and I think it speaks more to the cool summer people have been experiencing - more people are out and about during the peak of the day then they are early in the morning, so they see that the temperatures in the middle of the afternoon are much lower than they should be this time of year. For perception, this may be even more important than morning lows.
Fucking global warming is killing me!!!! I was at me 'mums' this past weekend, north of Boone, NC in Mountain City, TN. When I left at noon today it was 68. I get home and its 93. That is so not fucking cool!
Boon is a nice area. If I were to have a choice of where to live in either of the Carolina states it would be in the hills or mountains not the coast.
Honestly - it's been hotter here this year. Consider us the 'buffer zone' for those record-low Northern temperatures. High pressure stays in, and the typical Northerns don't make it as far South as they typically would. It's no surprise that the deflected cool currents are making those longitudinally North from here cooler, when they have no chance of reaching as far South as they once did. Here's another tidbit of evidence: We have long had the Cicada species in this area, and to my knowledge, at least 100 miles to our South. I grew up with these fascinating insects that, in their larval stage, burrow into the Earth and stay there for two decades or so before emerging without a mouth or digestive tract, with one purpose: copulate during the 1-2 weeks they can stay alive after emerging from their slumber. Just this summer, we've noticed a new insect that bears a striking resemblance to it's Northern cousin. In addition to the typical Cicada song being broadcast from the trees, we now have this incredibly annoying variant with a long-winded, high-pitch whistle. In addition to it's horrendous, maddening whistle, I also noticed earlier this year, something previously undocumented. Some of the Cicadas that were emerging this Summer were about a quarter of the size of the typical insects. Interesting, I thought. The emergence of this new species, as well as the diminished health of the current resident, tells me that this particular insect (previously known only to the South) has had his home terrain (determined by it's temperature-controlled niche) substantially altered, and now it's poised to de-throne the current successor to the throne. Climate change is real, y'alls.
I agree that the climate changes it did a few thousand years ago thanks to improper chariot design by engineers that cared only about profit. Then a few thousand years earlier due to dinosaur flatulence. I like the large green Cicada like we had in Houston they were not great in numbers and the noise not so deafening. There is a really ugly red cicada that comes every 7 or 14 years cannot remember for sure in Tennessee. When they come out the constant squeal lasts for over a month and literally drives a person insane like torture. How the people in the old days survived it I'll never know. I need to google a picture of them swarming. It's unbelievable. Here is some information about the annoying red cicada. But to experience a real swarm you just have to see it to believe it. http://biology.clc.uc.edu/steincarter/cicadas.htm
