Archive for the ‘weather’ Category

Virginia Heat Records Broken (and Unbroken)

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

Another heat wave brought record-breaking temps to Virginia yesterday, July 24, 2010. Capital Weather Gang reports:

Thankfully the District’s fourth 100-degree afternoon of 2010 has come to a close. All three area airports set record highs today as the mercury neared or surpassed triple digit levels across the region with heat indices up to 110. Here are the actuals:

Reagan National: 101
Dulles: 99…

…If you thought it was bad here, it was worse to our southeast. Richmond and Norfolk hit 105, both records.

When you hear about record temperatures in the news, they are usually talking about record temps for a particular day. While temperature records were broken yesterday for July 24th, the all time high from 1954 still stands:

Virginia Extremes:

Highest Temperature
110F
July 15, 1954
Balcony Falls1

1 Although Balcony Falls recorded 110F there is some contention as to whether this was a faulty reading. If the reading is faulty, the record is 109F, at Woodstock on July 20, 1930 and at Lincoln on July 10, 1936.

Hot and Dry

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Heat Wave Round II

Capital Climate
has been following this second heat wave we’re in:

The Washington National high of 102° missed the record by 1°, and the 100° at Dulles missed the record there by 2°.

Here are some more preliminary record reports (old record and date in parentheses):

Salisbury MD 102° (100°, 1999)
Elizabeth City NC 98° (tied 1999)
Wallops Island VA 99° (97°, 1999)…

Here at Old Dominion Wildlife HQ in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, I recorded a high temp today of 94.3F. The Capital Weather Gang is just showing one more day (Wednesday) with high heat, before a moderating trend.

Dry

I don’t much care for high heat, but the one redeeming thing is the lawn doesn’t need mowing. The US Drought Monitor shows much of Virginia is abnormally dry.

Eric commented on an earlier heat wave post that black bear have been spotted more frequently in areas down from the mountains, probably looking for water. Here’s a photo Eric sent the link to:

Thirsty Black Bear?

Thirsty Black Bear?

After a Very Hot June, A Reprieve

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

At the end of June into July, we’re having fabulous weather here in Virginia. Old Dominion Wildlife recorded low temperatures of 53F (11C) the past two mornings.

Despite the cooldown at the end of the month, Capital Climate reports record hot average temperatures for Washington, DC during June 2010. The new record set this past month of 80.6F (27C) exceeds the previous June record of 79.4F (26.3C) set back in 1994. Note that official Washington, DC temperatures have been measured at National Airport in Arlington, Virginia for many years.

Heat Wave

Friday, June 25th, 2010

CapitalClimate compiles yesterday’s record high temperatures from Virginia and elsewhere:

Richmond 102 (100, 1948)
Wallops Island VA 99 (92, 2002/1997)
Washington National 100 @ 2:32 PM
Washington Dulles 97 @ 1:48 PM

After reporting about the cooler mountain microclimate at Old Dominion Wildlife HQ, we finally broke 90 yesterday with a high yesterday of 92.1F.

A Bit of Relief?

CapitalWeatherGang has just a bit of good news in their latest forecast…

I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but “get out and enjoy” highs around 90 today? It will be a very brief break from the crazy heat that’s been with us since a week ago. Mother Nature refuses to give us any greater reprieve, with highs well into the 90s again this weekend and possibly Monday too…

The heat and humidity should take a step back on Tuesday, to highs in the upper 80s to near 90…

Another First Day of Summer

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Yesterday morning, astronomical summer began in Virginia. I suppose that makes today the first full day of summer.

Heat Wave

The Capital Weather Gang forecasts hot and humid weather over the next few days. This is good weather for swimming holes so long as you avoid lightning.

Mountain Microclimate

There are pros and cons to living on a mountain, but one advantage is the cooler micro-climate conditions. Yesterday, the high temp at Old Dominion Wildlife HQ was 84.2F whereas most location topped 90.

The same elevation factor enabled us to pick up snow last October and again on March 3rd, when most locations saw only rain.