Before we discuss the climate of Summer 2007, let's get through the difference between weather and climate. Weather is the state of the atmospheric conditions at any given place and time. Climate is the average weather pattern in a given place over many years. For instance, the weather today brought 62 to 90° temperatures. However the climatic average is 51 and 73°. Note: Even though a weather record low may be broken, the climate may still be warming. Vice-versa, if a record high is broken, the climate may still be cooling long-term. Got it?
Tuesday's 90° high temperature in Rockford comes just a three days off of a record 35° record low! But even with the record low temperature, it didn't even make a dent in this very warm month (so far). Take a look at the graphics above. The graph on the left shows the average temperatures observed for each month since June 1 (including the first 18 days of September) in yellow. The long-term average temperatures are shown in green. Albeit small in July, each month of this summer was warmer than average. Even though our summertime climate was warmer than average, it's not as warm as it's ever been. This summer is the 22nd warmest in the past 101 years.
While those statistics may not trip your trigger, these just might. I found that six of the past seven summers have seen above-average temperatures! The only "cool" summer was in 2004 when the average temperature for the summer was 68.0°.We want to know what you think of these warm summers! Click on the comment below to submit your thoughts. -ERIC
9 comments:
Hoe about getting your home ready for the harvest of beans, in turn the invasion of Box Elders and Japanese Beetles, we have a couple already. I have my Home Defense ready to spray.
I too love Ortho Home Defense Jessica! I spray the entire outside of my home along the foundation to keep bugs out. It works great.
I was always curious about what the diffrence was. Awsome explanation. Keep up the awsome Job. WREX ROCKS!!!
of course we will have the asian beetle invasion pretty soon.
I do remember that summer of '95. It was rediculously hot. I would beg my supervisor to give me more hours at work (part time) so I could work in A/C, because my parents house had none. It was worth it that summer.
*side note for Eric* I was on vaca. in Arkansas last week and was watching the NBC affiliate KARK's news at 5p. Was watching the weather segment, and when the 7 day came up, the 'NBC chimes' played... the same way as I remember when when you used to show the 7 day in the morning show. aha i kind of got a kick out of that. KARK also does statewide weather coverage, not just regional. (i think its because there was only one nbc affiliate for the state). Could you imagine doing a forecast statewide everyday Eric? aha :)
No I can't! I know that the TV stations in Salt Lake City, UT and Albuquerque, NM cover their entire states as well. That's gotta be tough! -ERIC
I CAN imagine doing a forecast for that big of an area. At my previous job I forecasted daily for the entire western half of Montana. I covered towns west and east of the continental divide, valleys and mountain passes, with elevations ranging from 3000' to 7000'. Talk about challenging! I do have to admit that mountain forecasting is a bit tougher than plains forecasting, but the weather is still more exciting here!
How are the "hottest" summers determined? Are the highs and lows combined? Just wondering. Some summers don't seem so bad because the nights are cooler and they are less humid. I remember 1995 as being terribly hot and super humid. I wonder how the years would stack up if they factored in "heat index".
That's a great question! In order to figure out how warm or cool the seasons are, we take the average temperature of the day. So really warm nights factor in the same way as really warm days. For instance, if the low temperature is 62 and the high is 82, the average is 72.
The amount of humidity...and heat index is not included in this...just temperature.
Thanks for your thoughts! Keep them coming! -ERIC
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