How Hot Was This July??? What About August?

It was so hot...(audience asks, "how hot was it?"). Well, it was so hot this month in Louisville that July 2011 should go down in the record books as the 3rd hottest July on record, even replacing 2010's previous 3rd place position.

Today's high has surpassed 90 degrees, making this the 14th consecutive day at or above 90. This also marks the 23rd day in the 90's for this month. After tomorrow, as the temperature is expected to surpass 90 again, we will have nearly doubled the number of days (24) in the 90's than what is considered normal for July in Louisville. In 2010, we also reached 90 degrees 24 times in the month of July.

Louisville, Kentucky
Normal Number of Days with:
Month                   >=90       <=Low 32°      <=High 32°         <= 0°
January	0	23.1	8.2	0.9
February	0	17.8	4.5	0.2
March	0	11.1	0.6	0
April	0	2.1	0	0
May	0.6	0	0	0
June	6.5	0	0	0
July	12.3	0	0	0
August	10.4	0	0	0
September	3.4	0	0	0
October	0	1	0	0
November	0	8.7	0.2	0
December	0	18.8	4.2	0.3
YEAR	33.2	82.6	17.8	1.4

Also, how about those dewpoints? I would like to see the official tally on this stat, but I calculated at least 19 hours when the dewpoint had reached at least 80 degrees here in Louisville. I'm hoping the NWS office in Louisville can help me with that one.

Now, for the month of August, at least the first part is guaranteed to be, well, typical August hot. Some mets are talking about a shift in the heat ridge that will allow our weather to finally cool down. I can see their reasoning, but August is one of those stubborn months when heat just doesn't take a back seat. Therefore, I think the month will be hotter than what they are thinking, as has been typical with this entire summer.

Here is what the CPC is thinking for the next 6-10 days...

Also, their 8-14 day outlook...

Notice that the area of above normal heat retreats a bit to the south and the west. I'm saying that the month of August is not historically known for its large fluctuations; therefore, the heat should remain.

However, part of their thinking for the cooler weather will be a series of impulses that will ride along the heat ridge and give us more precipitation, in fact, above normal precip for the first two weeks of the month. Here is the CPC's thinking for the second week of August...

Again, the way I see it is that the heat will remain, and if we get the rains, then the humidity levels will approach levels that we saw in early July, high dewpoints and high heat indices.

MS