Weather! The hot hot heat

That’s right, this forecast is so hot, it’s tragically hip. That’s really all I can say about the upcoming few days. Still not sure how hot it’s going to be? In that case, I suggest doing the following two things…

June 23, 2010; 7:47 AM • by Weather Dan

That’s right, this forecast is so hot, it’s tragically hip. That’s really all I can say about the upcoming few days. Still not sure how hot it’s going to be? In that case, I suggest doing the following two things:

1) Read the rest of my forecast, natch.
2) Go back and watch Good Morning, Vietnam. Remember the scene where Robin Williams’ character “interviews” Roosevelt E. Roosevelt? Yeah, it’s that hot.

Through June 21st, the average temperature so far this month is 79.8 degrees. We’re on pace for the warmest June on record; the current record is 79.2 degrees. We’re also down just over 3 inches of precipitation for the year, but we are not in an official drought yet. The drought forecast from the US Drought Monitor keeps us out of one, despite the lack of rain over the last few weeks. We’ve only received 0.39” of precipitation so far for the month of June.

Justin Hammer asked on Monday about how many 95+ degree days we’ve experienced this year, and what the record is. I’m still trying to track down that data, but I do have some pertinent information related to 90-degree days. Richmond averages 42 days with high temperatures at or above 90 degrees. We’re at 20 so far this year, 13 of which have occurred this June. June normally averages 9 days at/above 90; July and August average 15 and 11, respectively. The record is 70, set in 1977.

In addition to the heat, I’m also watching the tropics. Invest 92L that I wrote about last week finally dissipated in the Caribbean last week. Another disturbance has developed in the Caribbean south of Hispaniola and Jamaica. Right now the National Hurricane Center gives it a 20% chance for development into a tropical system. Several of the forecast models develop this area into a tropical system in the southern Gulf of Mexico in the next few days, so its impacts could be quite long-reaching. I’ll be keeping an eye on it over the next few days.

Locally, Wednesday is going to be another hot and sticky day. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued a Code Red air quality alert for Wednesday for high concentrations of ground level ozone. If you or someone you know has any sort of respiratory disease or breathing difficulty, take extra steps to allow those afflicted to avoid spending prolonged periods outdoors. Wednesday’s high should peak in the upper 90s, remaining quite humid. Lows Wednesday night should fall into the lower 70s yet again. The Storm Prediction Center is forecasting another day of slight risk for severe weather, though the chance for any sort of thunderstorm remains isolated at best.

Thursday looks to be the hottest day this week, as highs will approach 100 degrees. There has been no air quality forecast issued yet, but I imagine that Thursday will be another alert day. It’s a legitimate triple-h day for Richmond: hazy, hot, and humid. Low temps Thursday night again fall only into the lower 70s.

With the prolonged heat we’ve seen lately, please, please, PLEASE be smart and don’t leave people or animals in your car for extended periods of time. Twitter user @efarina successfully cooked an egg on her dash on Tuesday – at 135 degrees. Enjoy the video evidence: video 1 video 2.

The heat’s likely going to stick around through the weekend. I’ll be back on Friday with a full forecast.

June 23, 2010 7:47 AM 2