Q&A of the Day – The Hottest & Coolest Days of the Year in South Florida
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
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Today’s Entry: Hi Brian, What’s usually the hottest time of the year? I’ve read conflicting reports recently. One said it was in late July and another said the hottest temperatures aren’t over until September. As hot as this summer has been I’d like to think the worst is behind us. Thanks for considering.
Bottom Line: I have good news. The odds are the worst/hottest is behind us. That’s due to two reasons. The “heat dome” that had been over us is in the process of moving on and the hottest days of the year for South Florida are behind us...that is if we’re playing the odds of the historical averages. The conflicting reports you’re talking about are potentially both correct. The answer depends on where you live. There are vast differences in what are typically the peak temperatures across the country. The earliest temperatures usually peak within the US happen in a portion of western Texas the first week of June, before summer even begins. The latest portions of the country usually see their peak temperatures are the last week of September along the westernmost coastline of California, Alaska and parts of Hawaii. Within the state of Florida alone the difference is about four weeks based upon where in the state you live. The westernmost portions of the panhandle peak in mid-July while in Southeast Florida we tend to peak in early to mid-August.
NOAA keeps up with the data regularly and most recently published a report covering this topic a month ago. The headline to their update this year was: If things go as “normal,” most U.S. locations will have their hottest day of the year by the end of July. As NOAA explains... For most of the country, the warmest day occurs sometime between mid-July and mid-August. The amount of solar radiation reaching Earth (in the northern Hemisphere) peaks at the summer solstice on June 21, but temperatures tend to keep increasing into July. The continued warming occurs because the rate of heat input from the sun during the day continues to be greater than the cooling at night for several weeks past the solstice, until temperatures start to descend in late July and early August. In Southeast Florida we’re at the longer end of that curve, but recently we passed our average peak.
In West Palm Beach the hottest day of the year is usually August 9th, with an average high of 89. And if we look at look at what’s happened this year that’s held true. The high in West Palm Beach was 95 on August the 9th – which equaled the temperature on the 8th for the hottest day of the year. Incidentally, while on topic, the historic lowest average high temperature occurs on January 18th, at 74 degrees meaning there’s only 15 degrees of difference between the average high and the average low during the year around here...hence those “endless summer” license plates. Speaking of which...While meteorologically speaking summer is only three months, by way of temperature patterns it is Florida’s longest season of the year. South Florida enters its “hot” weather phase, meaning average highs of 86 or higher, June 5th and remains in that pattern until September 30th. In essence South Florida’s summer weather pattern is less than a week shy of being four months. Florida’s shortest seasonal weather pattern is fall which runs on average September 30th through December 4th, or just over two months.
So, the good news is that relief is on the way, rather quickly from the extreme heat recently because of the heat dome being no more and otherwise rather slowly from here because that’s how we roll in South Florida.