One for the Record Books

As Chris mentioned in his previous post, this July is shaping up to be one of the warmest on record. Beaten out so far only by the 79.0 degree July in 1921, 2011's July has packed a real punch in the heat department. After doing a bit of research into some climatological data, here's what i've found.

July, 2011

Two record highs were recorded. On July 2nd, our high temperature of 98 degrees surpassed the old record of 97 degrees set back in 1911. The second record set this month occurred on the 21st with a temperature of 102 degrees, beating out the old record of 99 degrees set back in 1930. We also tied the 1942 record of 96 degrees on July 18th.  

Beyond that, i did a little number crunching. For us to achieve the record of the hottest July ever recorded, temperatures would have to remain in the upper 80s during the day and upper 60s over night. The average temperature for the month is taken by adding together all temperatures (both highs and lows) and dividing by the total, so I worked out things to an exact number for us to achieve the record.

Bear with me :)

Using 62 data points (or 31 days, high and low) the magic number we need to reach is 4898/62 = 79.0 degrees

I just figured that out by adding together all the highs and lows so far this month, and estimating the temperatures for the remaining days.

Right now the monthly # is at 4101, so we need to come up with 797 degrees total over the course of the next 5 days.

Figure everyday was a 90 degree day with lows in the low 70s.

July 27: High 90 Low 70

July 28: High 90 Low 70

July 29: High 90 Low 70

And so on... So we get this:  (90*5) + (70*5) = 800

800 would be enough to surpass the old record, bringing the total degree points up to 4901. Now of course it's not likely that things will happen exactly that way, but if you take a look at my 7-day, i'm forecasting something similar.



Anyways, regardless of if the record is broken, i think we can all agree that this has been a very hot month!

Stay Cool!