Hot enough for you?
According to SNN Meteorologist Marco La Manno, July statistics show last month was merely the sixth warmest July on record.
I know, I’m as shocked as you are. Here are the numbers.
Our normal temperature in July should have been 91 degrees. We hit 91 42 percent of the days. We were below normal 19 percent of the time and above normal 39 percent during July. Last Friday was the hottest day of the month at 96 degrees, which tied the record high temp for the day.
So, no record-breaking month aside, why do we feel so miserable outside?
According to Marco, “It’s emblematic of our 21st century summers: more humid than previously, meaning warmer morning lows averaging in the mid-70s and approaching the 80s more frequently.” Or, to use the cliché, It’s not the temperature. It’s the humidity. And, as Justin likes to say, “Air you can wear.”
My mother hated summers. And she lived in Wisconsin. As she used to say, I can always put on more clothes to stay warm. Can’t take enough off to cool off.
One nice thing about hot weather, it tends to take our minds off things like COVID and politics. I’ve had conversations with folks about scorching hot steering wheels. Not letting dogs walk on hot sidewalks, why am I getting back on my bike now, and Craig, why do you still drive around town with the top down?
Because my A-C keeps things tolerable behind the wheel.
Just as it does for nearly 90 percent of us at home. Hard to believe, air conditioning was invented 120 years ago and really took off after World War II, making possible the Florida we live in today. Hard to believe as well, Florida was once the least populated Southern state. It is now the third largest state by population in the country. More than 21 million of us. So, if nothing else there are plenty of us to talk about the weather and ask, “Hot enough for you?”
That’s how we view things this week. I’m Craig Burdick. Thanks for watching SNN, THE Suncoast News Network.
