Very hot weather continues...

Posted July 6th, 2010 by Bill Kardas. 63 comments

We're in the middle of a likely heat wave here in Central New York.  That term 'heat wave' gets tosses around quite a bit, but it does have a meteorological definition.  A heat wave is three consecutive days or more with highs at or above 90 degrees.  It's tough to do here in this part of the state, so the term is often overused.  The last heat wave we had here was August 11th-14th of 2002.  Four days in a row were 90+, with the peak of the heat climbing to 97 on the 14th (Syracuse hit 100 that day). We're on track for seeing a heat wave, as we hit 91 yesterday, and will likely be in the low 90s today and tomorrow.

As for heat safety tips...the bottom line is just to think ahead and be smart.  Keep drinking water throughout the day, even if you aren't thirsty.  Your body will run through water a lot faster than you may be aware of on days like today.  Avoid strenous work during the hottest parts of the day.  If you have to do work outside, plan on taking breaks, indoors if possible.  Keep your pets hydrated through the day too (add ice cubes to the water...they'll love you for it).  Again, the weather over the next few days isn't dangerous unless you allow it to be.

A large area of high pressure continues to pump heat and humidity into the Northeast.  This high pressure system is also causing subsidence, or sinking air.  This sinking air hinders any thunderstorm development.  Many often automatically equate thunderstorms with humidity and heat.  In addition to heat and humidity, we also need a trigger to cause storms...something we won't have today or tomorrow. 

On Thursday, the ridge begins to break down.  This will slow down all that subsidence, which may allow for a few thunderstorms to pop up in the afternoon.  A slow moving cold front will bring and end to the hot spell on Friday with tropical downpours and thunderstorms.

Cooler, more comfortable weather for the weekend.  The long range patterns suggest another warmup here for the middle of July.  Unlike most years, the hot weather may be here for a while.

Tags: heat wave, hot, summer

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Comments

  1. Rob (Whitesboro):

    Alot of this mornings readings are about 10-15 degrees higher than yesterday morning at this time. We’ll be in big trouble if we get dews like we did yesterday. BGM has urbanized areas in the valley getting near 100…for an actuall temp!!

    Posted July 6th at 7:23 AM

  2. Bill Kardas (WKTV):

    Rob,

    I don’t think we’ll get that hot. Even though we’re warmer this morning than yesterday morning, the high levels of humidity actually make it more difficult for temperatures to rise. 850mb temperatures are +19/+20°C, translating to low 90s. I’m thinking 93/94 for Rome/Utica. Today’s record high of 96° should stay safe.

    Posted July 6th at 8:05 AM

  3. Michael- (Dolgeville):

    Already up to 80 degrees in the shade.

    Posted July 6th at 9:49 AM

  4. lb(Cedarville):

    Good Morning! I’m wondering what the official rainfall for June was in the region. I noticed that the “Weather History” posted the area down about 6 inches at the end of May. Is there an update for June? Being on a well system here we like to have at least a general idea of rainfall for the area. Thanks for all your weather reporting.

    Posted July 6th at 9:57 AM

  5. Bill Kardas (WKTV):

    lb,
    June’s rainfall was 6.83”, about 2.8” above normal. We’ve brought the yearly rainfall deficit down to about 4.5” as of today.

    Posted July 6th at 10:21 AM

  6. Becky (West Leyden):

    It’s 85 / 72 here

    Posted July 6th at 11:59 AM

  7. Bill Kardas (WKTV):

    87/72 with a HI of 94. HI in Albany now over 100. If we can keep this pace we should be on track to hit the low to mid 90s this afternoon.

    Posted July 6th at 12:11 PM

  8. Rob (Whitesboro):

    My temp has been flopping all over the place. I hit 89 a few times…it’s 85/73 right now here.

    Posted July 6th at 12:13 PM

  9. fairfield:

    temp and dewpoint of 85/77 HI of 94, all i can say is ik

    Posted July 6th at 12:21 PM

  10. fairfield:

    what causes the actual temp to feel 10 degrees hotter, my dew point is 77 and humidity is 75% right now

    Posted July 6th at 1:27 PM

  11. fairfield:

    86 with a HI of 97

    Posted July 6th at 1:28 PM

  12. Meg:

    Interesting. My cat sticks his nose up at an ice cube in his water. Too finicky for his own good.

    Posted July 6th at 1:48 PM

  13. Sarah:

    My digital thermometer, located in the shade is reading 93.6. It’s mighty hot, but I love it!

    Posted July 6th at 2:21 PM

  14. jessie (ilion):

    accourding to my weather channel desktop radar its 92/68 here its hot kinda wish it was not this hot so the kids could go outside and play but they can live in the a.c for a few days LOL but i know i am loving the warm or should i say hot weather

    Posted July 6th at 2:26 PM

  15. jessie (ilion):

    accourding to my weather channel desktop radar its 92/68 here its hot kinda wish it was not this hot so the kids could go outside and play but they can live in the a.c for a few days LOL but i know i am loving the warm or should i say hot weather

    Posted July 6th at 2:26 PM

  16. fairfield:

    glad i live in the country, still haven’t made it to 90 yet but it feels like 98

    Posted July 6th at 2:29 PM

  17. Becky (West Leyden):

    fairfield, The heat index combines the air temperature and relative humidity in order to determine what it feels like on your skin. Remember that exposure to the full sun can increase the HI by up to 14 degrees.

    right now it’s 87/71 here

    Posted July 6th at 3:13 PM

  18. fairfield:

    88/74, thanks Becky, still I say double ik!

    Posted July 6th at 3:24 PM

  19. Rob (Whitesboro):

    92/73 here. Baltimore has a temp of 104!

    Posted July 6th at 3:35 PM

  20. ilion:

    93/66 here now it seems that the temps and dews are bouncing up and down today oh well thank god the hottest point of the day is almost over

    Posted July 6th at 3:36 PM

  21. Jill Reale (Utica):

    Meg,
    My cat will only drink from the facuet, it is ridiculous. While Baltimore is at 100, their dewpoint is 59 (a dry heat so to speak). So their heat index (what it feels like out) is 100. As for here, we are at 92 with a dewpoint of 71. So it feels like 99. I would rather take the 100 degree air temperature anyday.

    Posted July 6th at 3:45 PM

  22. Kelly ( Mohawk):

    My cat also will only drink from the faucet lol, he’s way to cute… Wow this weather is crazy and way too Hot we need those good thunderstorms…

    Posted July 6th at 3:47 PM

  23. fairfield:

    yet another question, why is it we always get the humidity which drives up the heat index while other areas dont

    Posted July 6th at 4:16 PM

  24. Karen (Westmoreland):

    I have to laugh .. my cats have become completely spoiled with the ice cubes… they will sit at their bowl and cry and cry until they get the ice cubes in their water…. on a weather note…I like the heat but this is down right exhausting..I have seen on some news sites that some places have lost power… I hope they get it back on soon..to hot to not have any fans or air going…... hope everyone stays cool….

    Posted July 6th at 4:22 PM

  25. Tony - CNYWeather.com (Westmo):

    I’ve hit 93.7° so far. we’ll see if we get warmer tomorrow.

    Posted July 6th at 4:47 PM

  26. Becky (West Leyden):

    fairfield, several places get higher HI than we do. the most notable is the southern Plains. There are several factors that influence what kind of HI a region will get. However, the two major ones are geography and irrigation. For example the Central Plains are noted for hot summer temperatures and high heat indices. Meanwhile, the middle Mississippi River Valley is generally not as warm as locations to the west, but dew points during the summer are high. This is largely the result of two processes: moisture from the Gulf of Mexico transported north, and the amount of vegetative cover. The amount of “Green” grass, crops, and forest, have a huge affect on temp and HI, Because, they require more irrigation which results in additional evapotranspiration (which is the water cycle).

    Posted July 6th at 5:01 PM

  27. Becky (West Leyden):

    Karen…Cats are interesting creatures that’s for sure. Also you raise a very good point. Everyone should refrain from wasting electricity by doing such things as washing dishes or washing and drying of Clothes, this will help keep the electric grid from getting overloaded and allow everyone to run their A/C’s

    Posted July 6th at 5:17 PM

  28. Jeff H (Sherburne Hills):

    92.1 topp temperature today at the house and the dew actually went down during the day (only 53 at highest temp time). Norwich (in the City center) hit I believe 97 for a high today.

    Posted July 6th at 6:36 PM

  29. MG(Point Rock):

    I also topped out at 92.

    Posted July 6th at 8:42 PM

  30. Jill Reale (Utica):

    KRME officially hit 92 degrees today.

    Posted July 6th at 9:12 PM

  31. fairfield:

    topped out at 89

    Posted July 6th at 9:20 PM

  32. Rob (Whitesboro):

    High here was 92 as well. Even Saranac Lake hit 90 degrees. The hottest spot I could find was Frederick Maryland…they hit 106!

    Posted July 6th at 9:24 PM

  33. Gordon (Northwestern):

    Was outside most of the day working on my new Sun Room, sure felt hot out there today, but my high was only 87.7, low last night was 67.5. Still have not hit 90 this year at my house yet.

    Posted July 6th at 9:34 PM

  34. Becky (West Leyden):

    The high here was 87, same here Gordon no 90’s yet. However, to be fair, temps of 90+ are very rare at my house.

    Posted July 6th at 9:48 PM

  35. fairfield:

    strange, winds now are out of the Ese, pressure has been steadly dropping since 5 oclock and now my temp and dewpoint are the same, usually that means it’s raining, HI is 70 and 100% humidity

    Posted July 6th at 11:10 PM

  36. fairfield:

    down to 66 right now, let it keep falling a little more

    Posted July 6th at 11:44 PM

  37. Michael- (Dolgeville):

    High temperature for 7/6/2010 here was 93.6 degrees.

    Posted July 7th at 1:31 AM

  38. Bill Kardas (WKTV):

    Gorden, Becky

    It’s all about location. I bet 88 degrees in Northwestern is a hot for your spot. We’d have to hit 95+ in Utica before you hit 90 up there. Your post does bring up something I wanted to talk about: urbanized heating. Temperatures in urbanized areas are generally hotter than the countryside, as seen along the eastern seaboard over the past few days. These areas that hit 100+ would probably be more like mid 90s if there weren’t cities there.

    The hotter weather in the city is something called an “urban heat island”. It’s really interesting how it all works. The pavement, and buildings absorb much more solar energy throughout the day as compared to grass and trees, making it hotter in the cities vs countryside.

    This effect is most noticeable at night. At night, all of this absorbed heat radiates back into the atmosphere. The low for La Guardia was 83 last night. Compare that to the low of 73 at Montgomery, 60 miles to the north and well out of the city.

    It would be interesting to see the localized effects of urban areas in Central New York for this particular heat wave. I have some ideas on how to address this, and I’ll post some of my findings later today.

    Posted July 7th at 8:06 AM

  39. fairfield:

    75/73 up here at 8am, just closed all my windows that i left open all night

    Posted July 7th at 8:17 AM

  40. Mel (Westernville):

    That urbanized effect is very interesting. I did a paper on it for a MET class in college comparing winter diurnal temps from up here to the official hourly reports from the old Griffiss, a difference of only 10 miles. As Gordon said I have not cracked 90 yet, but have touched 89 the last couple of days. While watching the 6:00 news last night they were still reporting 92 degrees in SYR and I was down to 80 already.

    Posted July 7th at 9:02 AM

  41. Bill Kardas (WKTV):

    I am working on a mini project to look at area temperatures during this heat wave. If anyone can send me the high and low temperatures since Monday that would be great! I’ll post the report either later today or tomorrow. Thanks!

    Posted July 7th at 10:12 AM

  42. Tony - CNYWeather.com (Westmo):

    Sunday 87/54
    Monday 93/56
    Tuesday 94/67

    Posted July 7th at 10:35 AM

  43. Barbara (Laurens):

    I only have the highs for the last two days, both at approx. 3pm:

    Monday 96
    Tuesday 97

    Posted July 7th at 10:40 AM

  44. fairfield:

    Monday 87/56
    Tuesday 89/66
    Wednesday so far 82/66

    Posted July 7th at 11:19 AM

  45. Bill Kardas (WKTV):

    Thanks for the reports. I found some interesting comparisons between the various weather stations across Central New York. During this heat wave, many spots have run cooler than Utica by a few degrees. When elevation is accounted for, things look quite different. I’ll have a writeup on this tomorrow. I’ll also explain why the current weather pattern is a perfect time to compare numbers as well.

    Posted July 7th at 11:41 AM

  46. Becky (West Leyden):

    Monday 84/53
    Tuesday 87/60
    right now it’s 83

    Posted July 7th at 11:56 AM

  47. Sar:

    Bill,
    Are we expecting severe weather Friday and Sat?

    Posted July 7th at 12:06 PM

  48. Bill Kardas (WKTV):

    Sara,

    The chances are very low, but it’s possible that one or two storms could bring gusty winds. The heavy rain will be the main story with the cold front.

    Posted July 7th at 12:35 PM

  49. Becky (West Leyden):

    Yeah, my fear is heavy rain. ;It doesn’t look the cells will be moving that fast, so if any cell has a lot of rain combined with the dry sun baked ground there could be a few local headaches in spots

    Posted July 7th at 12:41 PM

  50. Becky (West Leyden):

    That should be, it doesn’t look like the cells will be moving that fast.

    Posted July 7th at 12:45 PM

  51. Jeff H (Sherburne Hills):

    Last three day temperatures:

    92.1/59.7 July 6th
    90.8/49.6 July 5th
    86.3/47.6 July 4th

    Last night we had a low of 58.4 degrees, looks like another 90 degree today as I am at 87 degrees at 1230.

    Posted July 7th at 12:51 PM

  52. Becky (West Leyden):

    temp is now up to 85

    Posted July 7th at 1:09 PM

  53. Working in Utica:

    I know a LOT can change between now and Sunday, but I was curious if you guys had a “feel” for the weather for Sunday’s Boilermaker?

    Posted July 7th at 3:48 PM

  54. Becky (West Leyden):

    It’s 86/71 up here

    Posted July 7th at 4:06 PM

  55. TM:

    Where can I find a temperature history for July 1st?

    Posted July 7th at 4:31 PM

  56. Barbara (Laurens):

    High today: 97 at 3:30pm
    down to 94 now, so worst is over

    Posted July 7th at 4:46 PM

  57. Becky (West Leyden):

    High here was 87

    Posted July 7th at 5:03 PM

  58. MG(Point Rock):

    Monday: 90/53
    Tuesday: 92/64
    Weds. 92/61

    It’s tough to compare high temperatures, because the thermometer’s exposure can make a big difference. I notice, for instance, that my max’s seem high compared to those in my general area (Becky, Gordon, Mel). My thermometer is a liquid in glass maximum thermometer, in an instrument shelter. So I’d think it would be OK, but as I said, it seems a little high

    Posted July 7th at 5:13 PM

  59. Becky (West Leyden):

    MG, Mine is a Davis Vantage pro2 with the fan aspirated radiation shield. It might be a little more accurate than your set-up. however as long as it’s in the shade the difference is not that great.

    Posted July 7th at 5:28 PM

  60. Becky (West Leyden):

    MG, I don’t know if yours is based on a Stevenson Screen or something different, However, as long as there’s enough ventilation and it’s white inside and out. I would think thermometer is accurate.

    Posted July 7th at 5:39 PM

  61. Randy:

    Why is the 7-day forecast chart from Halloween week?

    Posted July 7th at 6:44 PM

  62. Randy:

    Thanks for fixing it!

    Posted July 7th at 8:20 PM

  63. Becky (West Leyden):

    Monday 84/53
    Tuesday 87/60
    Wednesday 87/64

    Posted July 8th at 7:43 AM

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