When the heat was even worse
There’s a saying that no matter how bad the weather is, it’s been worse before. And that’s true with this current heat wave we’re in. Even though we’ve crossed 100 each of the last two days in Roanoke, reaching 101 today, it has truly been worse here before, in duration, in intensity, or both.
* 1953: It was 100 for 3 days in a row to end July (July 29-31, with a 101 on July 31) and 4 days in a row to end August and begin September (Aug. 29-Sept. 1, with 101 on Sept. 1)
* 1977: A record 8 days of 100-degree heat for the summer, with 3 straight from July 6-8 and a record 5 straight from July 17-21, peaking at 102 on July 18 and July 20. What’s more, there were 4 days at 99 (3 straight from Aug. 6-8) and 5 days at 97 that summer, including a 4-day stretch of 97-99-97-97 from July 13-16, leading into the July 17-21 run of 100s.
*1983: 3 murderously hot days from Aug. 20-22 at 104, 105, and 104. The 105 stands as Roanoke’s all-time record high temperature.
So while we still have a chance at our first three-peat of triple-digit heat since 1983 on Friday, it doesn’t look likely that this current heat wave will match the ones listed above.
August 9, 2007 - 7:04 PM
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It appears that the low temperature this morning was 79 degrees. If so, it ties the all time record for the warmest low temperature at the Roanoke airport. A minimum of 79 was recorded on 7/14/1954 and 7/1/1970. Moreover the mean temperature for today was 90 degrees, which makes it the 2nd warmest day over the last 58 years. Please check my web site http://tinyurl.com/23eg9e and look under “Top 100 extreme events of the past ” for more information.
it would be interesting to plot the extremes in temperature, precip, and other measurable weather phenomena over the last 100 years, and study it for any trends…
Chip and I have discussed the discrepancy between the data he is looking at and the weather service database … which indicates the 79 on 8/9 as the lone record-holder for warmest low.
As for plotting over the past 100 years … the problem is the data for Roanoke only goes back 59 years with any consistency (one site, continuous records)