It's Official: Burlington, Vermont's Hottest Month. Many Other Hot Spots Worldwide, Too

The numbers are in and we can confirm that Burlington, Vermont easily just had its hottest July on record.   

Thunderstorms erupt Thursday evening in southern Quebec
as viewed from St. Albans, Vermont. This was after another 
warm humid day that contributed to the hottest
July on record. 

The mean temperature was 76.8 degrees, besting the previous record of 76.0 set in 2018.

I kind of mentioned this the other day, but it bears repeating: Breaking an all time monthly record by 0.8 degrees doesn't sound like much. It's rare to break a monthly record, but doing so by that great a margin is really something. 

 

Also, before 2018 the hottest July was 75.3 degrees in 1921.  So this July was a full 1.5 degrees above that 1921 figure, That's pretty amazing.

Three of the four hottest Julys on record have happened in the past three years.

July was also Burlington's first month on record in which the temperature never got below 60 degrees. Not even for a minute. We're on the cusp of breaking the record for the most consecutive days in which it stayed above 60 degrees.

This morning's low temperature in Burlington was 62 degrees, the 37th consecutive day of temperatures remaining above 60 degrees. That ties the record for the longest streak, set in 1898. 

The forecast low tomorrow morning is 67 degrees, so we'll break that record tomorrow. As an aside, a weird, fun fact:  During that 37 day streak in 1898, the temperature never reached 90 degrees. The hottest day in that spell was 89 degrees. 

All but one day in Burlington reached 80 degrees in July.  The one day that didn't get that warm got to 79 degrees. Close but no cigar.

Another weird and incredible thing happened in July. Every single day was warmer than average. Even on other record breaking warm months, there's usually at least a couple or few individual days that are a little chillier than average. Not this July. 

Burlington has had 18 days so far this year with temperatures of 90 or above.  The record for the most in one year is 26.  There's a slight possibility we'll break that record, too if August and early September turn out to be hotter than average.

It's not just us here in Vermont dealing with a hot summer.  Several cities in the Northeast will also clock in with their hottest July on record. 

Miami, Florida just had its hottest July temperature with a mean of 85.9 degrees. Phoenix, Arizona, always a summertime furnace, just had its hottest July on record, too, with an average temperate a toasty 99.0 degrees. Ouch!

According to Capital Weather Gang, Washington DC set a record similar to Burlington's.  The temperature in DC never fell below 70 degrees this July, the first month on record that's happened. 

Heat waves have been hitting all over the world. Heathrow Airport in London, England reached 100 degrees yesterday, the third hottest day ever recorded anywhere in the UK.

Several cities in France also reported all time record highs yesterday. 

Kuwait City, Kuwait recently suffered through a high temperature of 125.78 degrees, the hottest day on record there. 

If you want a place that had a cool summer, go to Alaska. In the central part of that state, Fairbanks had its first July since 1981 in which the temperature never once got to 80 degrees.

HURRICANE ISAIAS

A quick update on Hurricane Isaias: The storm is approaching Florida and wlll move over or just offshore of the state on Sunday. Hurricane warnings are up for parts of Florida's east coast.

Isaias has been looking ragged this morning, with dry air intruding and upper level winds trying to disrupt it.  Still, its clouds keep erupting and the tops of those clouds are cold, indicating that this thing really wants to keep chugging along.

The National Hurricane Center says it will brush the East Coast of Florida on Sunday. Top sustained winds are expected to remain near 80 mph through then, though it's possible the strongest winds could stay just offshore of Florida. 

Isaias is still expected to go up the East Coast in the next few days, probably while weakening.  If it heads north while staying inland, it will be mostly a heavy rain maker for the Northeast. If it stays a little off the coast, there is a good chance of tropical storm force winds and some storm surges along the coast all the way to Maine. 

It's still a little unclear what effects this will have on Vermont. The best chances for a good slug of rain with this would be over southeastern sections of the state. Stay tuned!