Endless Summer VI: Washington, Richmond, Raleigh Extend 90°+ Temperature Streaks Raleigh Sets New Record

Washington's high temperature of 96° last week seemed just a bit too high to end the near-record string of 90°+ temperatures this year. Sure enough, the temperature popped up this afternoon ahead of some light rain showers and hit a high of 92°. This is the 63rd day of 90° or higher temperatures this year, although the pace has now slipped a couple of days behind the record year of 1980, which eventually reached a total of 67 days.

Raleigh, which had just tied its annual record yesterday, broke the record with its 84th day this year of 90°+ temperatures and a high of 94°.

Richmond, which also hit 94°, extended its new record to 74 days.

Image (click to enlarge): Cumulative annual number of days 90° or higher in Washington, CapitalClimate chart from National Weather Service data

Endless Summer V: Raleigh Ties Yearly 90°+ Record; Richmond Continues to Extend Record

The Weather Channel twitches that today's 90°+ temperatures in Raleigh NC have tied the annual record of 83 days in 2007. Highs in the lower 90s are also forecast for Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, Richmond VA broke its record for number of days of 90° or higher temperatures with 71 a week ago on Sept. 8. With a high of 92° yesterday and a temperature of 90° at 4 pm today, that record is now 73 days. The old record of 70 days was set in 1977.

Image (click to enlarge): 24-hour maximum temperatures for central North Carolina ending 8 am Sept. 15, 2010, from National Weather Service

Record Pace of 2010 Hurricane Season Continues

5 PM Update: As of 5 pm EDT, Julia has weakened slightly to Category 3 (125 mph), but Igor remains at Category 4.

Original Post:
Although there has been minimal direct effect on the U.S., the 2010 hurricane season has been setting records for storm intensity. In his WunderBlog this morning, Dr. Jeff Masters notes the significance of Hurricane Julia's intensification to Category 4.

• Along with Hurricane Igor, which reached the maximum intensity of the Category 4 range last night, there are now 2 Category 4 hurricanes in the Atlantic at the same time. The only other time this has happened was with the Great Miami Hurricane and Hurricane Four on September 16, 1926. On that occasion, the double Category 4 storms only overlapped for 6 hours. However, Julia became a Category 4 at 5 am this morning and is expected to remain at least at this intensity through the rest of Wednesday. Although Igor has weakened slightly, it is also expected to remain near its current strength for at least the next 24 hours.
• Another record, already set by Julia, is that it is now the strongest hurricane to develop this far east in the Atlantic (longitude 31.8W). Hurricane Earl was also the fourth strongest hurricane so far north.
• This season so far has the third highest number of Category 4 storms, behind 2005 and 1999, which had 5 each, but today is the earliest that a fourth Category 4 storm has formed. Julia's development beat Hurricane Gert of 1999 by 3 hours on the same date, September 15.
• The pace of Category 4 storms (4 in 20 days) is also a new record, beating the previous shortest span of 24 days in 1999.

Image (click to enlarge): GOES satellite infrared image shortly before 2 pm today (September 15) shows 3 tropical cyclones lined up along and near latitude 20N in the Atlantic and Caribbean: Tropical Storm Karl (left, over Yucatan Peninsula), Category 4 Hurricane Igor (right-center, between 50W and 60W longitude), Category 4 Hurricane Julia (right), from CIMSS/University of Wisconsin

Endless Summer IV: DC's 62nd Day of 90°+ Temperatures

8 PM Update: And 96° it is, at 3:46 PM EDT. Temperatures were 90° or above for 8 consecutive hours beginning at noon. The low of 74° is no slouch either, just 2° below the record highest minimum for the date, if it holds through midnight. That certainly looks feasible, although temperatures will be dropping quickly. Overall, at this rate, the day is adding 12° of surplus over the long term average.

5 PM Update: The temperature was 95° for 3 consecutive hours; that's probably good enough for a high of 96°.

2 PM Update: Preliminary high: 95°. (WaPo's non-carbonated edition forecast: "Upper 80s to near 90". Yeah, that's pretty near. NOT.)

Original post:
That crashing noise around noon today in the Washington metro area was the sound of temperature forecasts busting as the mercury once again reached 90°. It rose 3 more degrees in the following hour to 93°. This is now the 62nd day of 90°+ temperatures in 2010. Although that is still 5 days ahead of the torrid pace toward 67 days in the record-setting year of 1980, temperatures will drop to more seasonable levels for at least the rest of the week, and 2010 may, for the first time all year, drop behind the record pace.

Images (click to enlarge): Washington/Baltimore regional temperatures shortly after 1 pm EDT, Sept. 8, 2010, from Intellicast; Cumulative annual number of days 90° or higher in Washington, CapitalClimate chart from National Weather Service data

Endless Summer III: 'Nother Ninety Notched 61st Day of 90°+ Temperatures

5:30 PM Update: The preliminary high/low temperatures for Sept. 7 are 94/69. If the low holds through midnight, the first week of September will average nearly 6° above the long-term mean.

Original post:
At 3 pm today, the temperature at Washington National jumped 4° in an hour, reaching 93°. Following a record hot spring and summer, this is the 61st day of 90°+ temperatures at Washington in 2010. The record for one year is 67 in 1980. The total didn't reach 61 in 1980 until 5 days later, however.

Temperatures at other major regional reporting locations were also 90° or above; 91° at Washington Dulles and 90° at Baltimore/BWI.

Record Hot Spring-Summer in Northeast, Mid Atlantic

Images (click to enlarge): U.S. Northeast and Mid Atlantic temperature departures from average for spring (March-May) and summer 2010 (June-August) from NOAA Applied Climate Information System (ACIS)

Not only have a number of summer temperature records been set this year, but a majority of major climate reporting stations in the Northeast and Mid Atlantic (26 locations) have set or tied records for the hottest spring-summer (March-August). Here is the NOAA summary of 2010 temperatures vs. the previous records:

                                2010    Previous
                              Average Year  Average Difference
Atlantic City NJ                66.8  1991  64.5      2.3
Washington/Dulles VA            68.2  1991  66.4      1.8
New York/JFK NY                 66.3  1991  64.6      1.7
Newark NJ                       68.1  1993  66.5      1.6
Worcester MA                    60.7  1949  59.2      1.5
Providence RI                   63.9  1945  62.5      1.4
New York/LaGuardia NY           68.3  1991  66.9      1.4
Hartford/Bradley CT             64.0  1991  62.8      1.2
Washington National DC          70.9  1991  69.7      1.2
Caribou ME                      54.7  1979  53.5      1.2
Central Park NY                 67.5  1991  66.3      1.2
Philadelphia PA                 68.9  1991  67.7      1.2
Islip NY                        64.2  1991  63.1      1.1
Bridgeport CT                   64.3  1991  63.2      1.1
Wilmington DE                   67.2  1973  66.2      1.0
Boston MA                       63.4  1991  62.4      1.0
Binghamton NY                   59.7  1991  58.8      0.9
Baltimore/BWI MD                68.4  1921  67.6      0.8
Concord NH                      59.5  1921  58.7      0.8
Burlington VT                   59.4  1894  58.6      0.8
Middletown/Harrisburg PA        66.5  1991  65.9      0.6
Williamsport PA                 64.4  1921  64.0      0.4
Portland ME                     58.8  1878  58.4      0.4
Allentown PA                    64.1  1991  63.7      0.4
Syracuse NY                     61.1  1921  60.9      0.2
Scranton PA                     62.4  1921  62.4      0.0 

Five more stations had their second hottest spring-summer:

                               2010     Previous
                              Average Year  Average Difference
Albany NY                       61.6  1921  61.8     (0.2)
Elkins WV                       61.5  1921  61.7     (0.2)
Beckley WV                      62.9  1991  63.2     (0.3)
Buffalo NY                      60.3  1991  60.7     (0.4)
Rochester NY                    60.7  1921  61.6     (0.9) 

Two other stations (Charleston WV and Erie PA) had their 3rd hottest spring-summer, Pittsburgh PA had its 6th hottest, and Huntington WV had its 7th hottest.

Summer of Simmer Summary: More Heat Records Broken

As previously reported, it was the hottest summer on record by a wide margin in Washington. Record-breaking heat also extended from the Mid Atlantic area into the Southeast. Here are some other summer 2010 heat records (more records to be added as available):

Central Park NY: Hottest summer, average 77.8° vs. 77.3° in 1966. [Records began 1869]

Baltimore MD: Hottest summer, average 79.3° vs. 79.1° in 1943.

Roanoke VA: Hottest summer, average 78.2° vs. 77.4° in 1987.

Danville VA: Hottest summer, average 80.0° vs. 78.7° in 1952.

Blacksburg VA: Hottest summer, average 72.9° vs. 72.3° in 1987.

Bluefield WV: Hottest summer, average 74.5° vs. 74.2° in 2007.

Raleigh NC: Hottest summer, average 81.7° vs. 79.8° in 2007. Most June-August 90°+ days, 67 vs. 58 in 2007 and 1992.

Greensboro NC: Hottest summer, average 80.1° vs. 78.5° in 2007 and 1993. Most June-August 90°+ days, 52 vs. 50 in 1993.

Asheville NC: Hottest summer, average 75.4° vs. 75.1° in 1952.

Charlotte NC: Second hottest summer, average 81.1° vs. 81.5° in 1993.

Greenville-Spartanburg SC: Hottest summer, average 81.0° vs. 80.2° in 1952.

Savannah GA: Second longest string of 90°+ temperatures, 40 ending Aug. 14, vs. 44 ending Aug. 8, 1993.

Chattanooga TN: Second hottest summer, average 84.0° vs. 85.7° in 2007.

Image (click to enlarge): U.S. surface temperature departure from average (°C), June 1 to August 31, 2010, from NOAA/ESRL Physical Sciences Division, Boulder Colorado