Peak Of Summer Brought Us A Brief Break. Now It's Back To Humidity, Downpours, And Eventually Heat Again

On average, if you have to pick the exact height of summer, it's right around July 21.

My Quick Fire Hydrangeas are what I consider at their 
peak and prettiest right now. They follow the season starting
off white in early summer, turning pink at the peak of summer
and gradually going to a russet in the autumn. 

That's right around the time we've had half our heat waves, half our spells of humidity. The hottest days of summer are often right around that date. 

You start to notice the start of a journey toward autumn about now.   

Vermonts trees, forests and hillsides are still the royal green of summer, but a few of the leaves are looking tired or ragged. If you look closely, you see hints of red in the swamp maples.  

As I sat out in my yard last evening, I noticed a relative lack of birds compared to spring and early summer. We're starting to see the sun set a little earlier. 

July 21 this year turned out to be a little cooler than it has been lately, belying the reputation as the peak of summer.  The high temperature in Burlington Sunday was 79 degrees. That ended a streak of 19 consecutive days with high temperatures of 80 degrees or more. The streak was good enough to become the sixth longest set of consecutive 80s on record. The longest such streak was 29 days in 2018.

Chances are, the hottest temperature of this summer came early in the season. The toastiest we've gotten so far, at least as measured in Burlington, was 96 degrees on June 19.

We might be halfway through summer, but there's plenty of it left. Plenty of time for more downpours, sunny days, heat waves, you know the drill.

UP NEXT

As of today, Vermont's summer weather of 2024 is up to its old tricks. Like we've seen so often this summer, it's gotten humid and wet, with locally heavy downpours. That'll be our state of affairs through Thursday.  

As has been so often the case this summer, National
Weather Service radar is lit up with rain, with 
locally  heavy downpours in red. Image is
from around 6:40 a.m. today. 

Rainfall has been highly variable overnight and early this morning, as is typical of summer. The northern Adirondacks of New York have had enough downpours to trigger a local flood warning up there early today. 

Areas of heavy rain also showed up on radar across far northern Vermont, though I haven't seen any indication of a flood risk there. 

Meanwhile, Burlington had just 0.04 inches of rain as of 7 a.m. 

We'll need to watch out - once again - for instances of flash flooding over the next three days, with Thursday the likeliest day to produce trouble. If indeed we get any trouble. 

The risk of flash flooding is the usual harassment we've had all summer: There's a chance of isolated flood problems, but nothing widespread or super scary like on July 10-11. 

The rain we're getting this morning will tend to taper off as we head toward noon. In the afternoon, we'll see some more showers and thunderstorms erupt.  That's when an isolated, slow moving thunderstorm in one or two spots could cause some new local washouts or culvert problems. The chances of this happening today are quite low, but not zero.

The sticky weather that's returned will, um, stick around for a few more days. Nights will be stuffy, but at least days will only reach the low 80s, as clouds and showers will hold temperatures down a little. 

Wednesday will be sultry again with the usual hit and miss storms. Afternoon and evening are the most likely times for that, as usual.

We start to get some weak boundaries and cold fronts approaching and passing through Thursday, which will make even more showers and downpours and storms erupt in the humid air. That's why I'm eyeing Thursday as a potential flash flood day, again in a few isolated places. Most of us will be fine, but we'll need to keep an eye out. 

DRYING OUT?

Beyond that, there's good news and bad news. High pressure that originated in south central Canada will drift in from the west and northwest by Friday.  There's been record heat in central and western Canada, so the air with this one is warm. 

Friday and Saturday might well end up being warmer than earlier in the week. But the humidity will temporarily crash so we'll have a couple of fairly comfortable sleeping nights and some really decent beach days over the weekend.

Bonus: As it looks now, we might have at least four consecutive days of rain-free weather with this. 

This high pressure looks like it will want to strengthen overhead and also team up with the dreaded offshore Bermuda High. Early indications are this will set us up for another hot spell, with more 90 degree days possible starting Sunday or Monday.  

Near Record Early Cherry Blossom Bloom In Washington DC, But 150 Of The Trees To Be Chopped Down Soon

Stumpy, a beloved cherry tree along the Tidal Basin
in Washington DC is to be chopped down along with
150 other trees because of rising tides. Note the water
surrounding Stumpy in the photo. The tree was
damaged by the high water, giving Stumpy a 
Charlie Brown Christmas tree vibe. That's
why people love Stumpy so much and will miss it. 

 The famous cherry trees in Washington DC reached peak bloom on Sunday, one of the earliest such blooms on record.   

People also better enjoy this year's bloom, as about 150 of the trees are about to be cut down.  (Don't worry, there will be plenty of cherry trees left behind to bloom in future years).

THE BLOOM

First, the early bloom. As the Washington Post notes, people have been keeping track of bloom times among the cherry trees since 1921. This year's was tied with 2000 as the second earliest flowering on record. March 15,1990 takes the cake as the earliest bloom. 

The blossoming came earlier than forecasted and before the start of the Capitol's annual National Cherry Blossom Festival, which started Wednesday and ends April 14.

Climate change (of course!) seems to be playing a role in the earlier blooms as well: Per Washington Post: 

"As March temperatures have climbed over the past century, the average peak bloom date has advanced about six days, from April 4 to March 30. Including this year, each of the past five has seen a peak before March 298. Last year it was on March 23 - more than a week early."

Peak bloom has hit before April 4 in 16 of the past 20 years. Looking at it another way, in the 57 years ending in 1978, the trees bloomed on or after April 12 on thirteen occasions. Since 1978, blooms that late never happened again. 

CUTTING SOME DOWN

Washington DC has about 3,800 cherry trees in and around the Tidal Basin and Washington Monument. After the blooms fade this spring, there's going to be about 150 fewer of them.

They are victims of sinking ground and climate change, which is causing the tidal basin to flood the area more and more frequently, especially near the Jefferson Memorial. 

Back in the late 19th and early 20th century, a seawall was construction in the area to keep tides at bay. But the sea wall has sunk as much as five feet. That's mostly because the area was built on mud dredged from the Potomac River, and that mud has settled.

 Meanwhile, water levels have risen by about a foot due to climate change. 

NPR describes the scene now:

"Every day, twice a day, at high tide, portions of the walkway around the Tidal Basin flood with several inches of water. Some of the roughly 2,500 cherry trees around the basin have water lapping at exposed roots; others are completely inundated. Numerous park benches are partially submerged."

The National Park Service this spring will embark on a $113 million project to raise portions of the walkway.  A new seawall will be built, supposedly high enough to withstand about a century of future sea level rise.  They'll be able to build the seawall higher, if it becomes necessary.

To complete this project to keep the Tidal Basin at bay, they'll have to cut down about 150 trees. Once they're done, the National Park Service promises to plant 274 new cherry trees.

STUMPY

One of the victims of this project is the beloved Stumpy.  

Stumpy is the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree of the Tidal Basin. Repeated flooding from Tidal Basin salt water has turned into Stumpy into a gnarled, lopsided mess.  Still, Stumpy persists, putting out fresh blooms each year. 

People love Stumpy's pluck in the face of such adversity, and they are celebrating it and truly mourning its impending demise. 

The Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-mile and 5K will commemorate Stumpy with its image on race t-shirts and race metals. Stumpy also now has a full-sized mascot.

The Washington Post adds this:

"Clippings from Stumpy will be sent to the National Arboretum to create genetic matches. The hope is to plant little Stumpy clones on the National Mall or nearby parks. The rest of Stumpy and the other trees will be ground into mulch and spread around the remaining cherry tree bases to protect their roots and provide nutrients to the soil."

Sort of the circle of life, I guess. 

I understand the need to remove Stumpy, but I'm going to miss that brave little tree.  

 

Vermont Foliage Peaking In Much Of State. So Far, So Good

Trees turning color in warm afternoon sunshine Wednesday
near Fairfield, Vermont. 

 The leaf peepers are here, just in time for peak foliage season in Vermont.  Good luck getting a hotel or  a restaurant reservation this weekend! 

Which means you should give up on that idea.  If you get a chance, take a drive through areas outside the usual tourist stomping grounds, or go for a hike. It will be worth over the next few days. 

I wouldn't say that this year's foliage season is as good as last year,'s, but the 2021 season was off the charts in terms of vibrancy, at least in my opinion.  There's still quite a show going on on the Vermont hillsides. 

The reds seem to be more orange and yellow this year, but from what I've seen, it's still gorgeous. I was beginning to have my doubts.  I drove through the Fairfield, Vermont area on Tuesday, and the colors seemed a bit, well,  meh.   I drove through the same area the next day, yesterday, and wow!

Right now the color seems best in northern Vermont away from the Champlain Valley. I think it will be the Champlain Valley's turn to shine in about a week. I'd also say that foliage season has arrived at about on schedule, at least by modern standards.  Foliage season does seem to come later than it did a few decades ago.   A warmer climate has been postponing foliage season a bit. 

Cows graze in a hill beneath trees that were rapidly turning
color Wednesday near Fairfield, Vermont.

The weather for foliage viewing should be pretty good. Today will be warm and sunny, a kind of Indian Summer kind of day. Temperatures should rocket up well into the 70s on warmer valley floors.  

A sharp cold front comes through tomorrow.  Showers with the front, and gusty winds near and behind the front will probably knock down some leaves. 

But it's not a tremendous storm by any means, so I don't see the colors diminishing in a way that a windy nor'easter would wreck the season. 

The rest of the weekend looks like it will feature classic Vermont autumn weather:  It'll be breezy, cool, with partly cloudy skies and a risk of a brief shower. 

Check out the mountain tops Friday. They might be coated with a bit of white.  It'll be chilly enough for flurries and rime ice up there.