Yup, This Year Was Officially Burlington Vermont's Hottest Summer

The numbers are in and the 2020 climatological summer (June 1 through August 31) came in as the hottest summer on record in Burlington, Vermont.  

A field during a hot summer day in Georgia, 
Vermont. Photo taken on July 15.

Anybody who sweated through this summer probably already knew this, but now it is official.

The mean temperature in Burlington June 1 through August 31 was 72.3 degrees, narrowly passing the old record of 72.2 set in 1949.

Neither June nor August were that much warmer than average on the grand scheme of things, but the record was driven by a July, which was a record hot one by a long shot. 

Vermont wasn't the only place to record a hot summer. Chicago, Phoenix, Miami, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Caribou, Maine and Naples and Fort Lauderdale in Florida were among numerous cities who had a record hot climatological summer in the United States. The heat definitely was widespread. 

Back in Vermont, one record that didn't fall in Burlington was one everybody was watching: The record for the most days at 90 degrees or more still stands at 26, set in 1949.

Days with 90 degree heat seemed to be coming fast and furiously during the first half of the summer, but diminished during the second half. Only two days made it to 90 degrees or better during August in Burlington.

There's still a chance we could reach 90 degrees again in September, but it's unlikely. 

The following might seem strange, given that all of Vermont is regarded as either abnormally dry or in drought according to the the U.S. Drought Monitor, but Burlington also recorded its 8th wettest August on record. 

The month had 6.61 inches of rain during the month, as opposed to an average of of 3.91 inches. 

Burlington was a special case in the precipitation department, though.  The reason why Burlington was so wet was because Tropical Storm Isaias on August 4 unleashed most of its rain on extreme western Vermont and more or less missed the rest of the state. Also, Burlington was targeted by a few well-aimed, torrential thunderstorms that mostly missed other parts of the state. 

Montpelier, St. Johnsbury and Morrisville all recorded August rainfall at levels a bit below average.

As usual, we don't know how September will work out.  It'll be kind of on the warmish side for the first several days of the month, but nothing that out of the ordinary. Beyond that, who knows?