Tuesday, August 16, 2011

These Records Aren't Something To Be Proud Of

As I mentioned on air the other day, breaking records and obtaining them are typically a good thing in life, except when it comes to weather. When dealing with weather records, we are talking about extremes in some shape or form.

For instance, record cold, record heat, record rainfall, record drought, etc. are the kinds of things you don't want to hear or see reported in your local weathercasts. Unfortunately, weather records don't go hand in hand with records obtained in sports or any other endeavour for that matter.



As of this evening, the Angelina County Airport in Lufkin has had 42 100° days this year. That ties the mark for the most number of 100° days that last occurred in the hot summer of 1998. We will break that record tomorrow and then shatter it as we progress through the second half of August.


On average, we see about 2 days of 100° temperatures heading into August, and about 7 days of triple digit heat per year. We have exceeded the average mark by a factor of 6 and still climbing.



More Heat Records


Not only are the number of days over the century mark a talking point, but so is our current streak of consecutive 100° days. We are at 18 days in a row, in which the temperature has hit or exceeded the century mark. That too, is an all time record for consecutive days being in triple digit territory. This treak started back on July 30th and has continued ever since.



No Relief in Sight


Outside of a stray evening shower or storm, there is no real relief to speak of. It looks as if our triple digit heat will continue right through the weekend and into next week.





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