Unusually Cool Morning

Wednesday morning had a bit of coolness to it, even a borderline chill by some standards. Morning lows ran about five to ten degrees below average for July 15. Skies were clear overnight, and relatively dry air was still in place after the cold front early Tuesday. Temperatures this morning were able to drop in the drier air into the 50's and low 60's in Central Virginia, even setting a new record low at Danville. Folks in Danville this morning woke up to a low temperature of 57 degrees, which ties the previous record low from 1978 for July 15.

Here are some other morning low temperatures in the state:
Richmond 61 (average morning low for July 15 is 68)
Petersburg 55
Wakefield 56
Roanoke 59
Lynchburg 54 (average morning low for July 15 is 64)
Fredericksburg 60 (average morning low for July 15 is 65)
Emporia 53 (average morning low for July 15 is 66)
Williamsburg 62 (average morning low for July 15 is 67)

...This is July, right?

Pretty Pleasant Summer So Far

If it feels to you like our Summer in Richmond so far hasn't been that hot, you are correct...sort of. Our Summer so far has been about average, if you are looking at just the high temperatures.

July 2009: Average High (to date) 86 degrees.
Average July Highs: 87-88 degrees.

June 2009: Average High 85 degrees.
Average June Highs: 81(early June)-86(late June) degrees.

Probably why so many of us feel as though this Summer has not been as oppressive is because high dewpoint temperatures have not often coincided with excessively hot air temperatures (i.e., high Relative Humidity in heat). In fact, only a handful of days have been truly "hot" this Summer. The hottest temperature Richmond International Airport has recorded is 95 degrees on June 20. In July, afternoon temperatures have only climbed to 94 degrees on the 12th so far. We've only had a dozen 90-degree days so far this year...

90-degree days Year-to-Date: 12 through July 13 (2 in July, 7 in June, 0 in May, 3 in April).
On average (records from 1897-2000), Richmond has 39 90-degree-days per year.

Of course, we still have the rest of July, August, and September in which we can historically get some pretty warm temperatures in the Commonwealth. But, we do have a lot of ground to cover if we're going to meet that average 90-degree-days mark! By the end of this week, though, we will likely surpass the years on record for fewest 90-degree-days. The fewest 90-degree-days years occurred in 1971, 1927, 1917, all with only 14 days each year reaching that mark.

So perhaps the reason this Summer has felt so pleasant is the fact we have not experienced extremes, whether too much rain or to little, too hot temperatures, or too cold. Goldilocks would approve...this Summer so far has been just right.
--Carrie

Great Shot!

Here's a great picture taken of the severe storm that moved through Henrico County Sunday night. This photo was snapped by Paul Stevenson Jr. Thanks, Paul!

As that thunderstorm moved through the Richmond area, it dumped up to half an inch of rain. The airport officially recorded 0.51" from that storm and an earlier shower that moved over RIC.
--Carrie