Monday, July 26, 2010

Summer Night Sky Show

Have you been cooped up indoors the past few days because of the dangerous heat? Well after last night's cool front, high temperatures this week will stay in the low- to mid-90's. Although this is still hot, the plus-side of our hotter-than-normal Summer is that evenings can be comfortably warm for outdoor activities. No sweater (or sweat) required! And tonight is one of those nights where skies should be mostly clear and temperatures in the 80's after sunset at 8:24 p.m. in Richmond. The just-past Full Moon will rise at 8:40 p.m. in the East, so looking West, your view will be excellent of several planets aligned:

(Image: SpaceWeather.com)
This alignment will shift a little over the next week, but still provide great viewing of the planets, so keep looking west after sunset when the skies are clear.

Record High Round-up


For those of you who just can't get enough of statistics, here's a recap of the various records we have broken in recent days, and those we could break in coming days and weeks.
Saturday and Sunday both set new record highs at 105 degrees each for those dates (the old records to beat for both days were 99 degrees).

All-time Record Hottest Temperatures in Richmond:
1.) 107 degrees (August 6, 1918)
2.) 106 degrees (August 7, 1918)
3.) 105 degrees (July 25, 2010 & July 24, 2010 & July 6, 1977)

Most 100 degree days in a year: 9 (2010 & 1954) TIE
1952, 1953, and 1977 all had 8 days 100+

Through Sunday, July 25, Richmond has reported 47 days 90 degrees or hotter. This is already above the average number of 90 degree days we see in an entire year (40). The most 90 degree days in a single year on record is 70 from 1977.

Reminder: We just had the hottest Spring on record in Richmond and also the hottest June on record. We are currently on track, as Aaron mentioned in the previous blog entry, to have the hottest July on record. Our average temperature through Sunday stands at 83.1 degrees, above the current top spot holder of 1993 with an average July temperature of 82.4 degrees.