July In Philadelphia Could Have Been Hotter; July In America Could Not Have Been
We talked about the heat a little bit during the month of July (by our estimate we referenced heat, sweating, or melting around once a day), but as it turns out, it wasn’t just us. According to the people whose job it is to keep track of that sort of thing, July 2012 was the contiguous United States’ hottest month since those records started being kept in 1895. The country’s average temperature (not average high, but average temperature) during the month was 77.4 degrees, a whole 3.3 degrees warmer than the 20th century average.
While the temps set records all across the U.S., July 2012 here in Philadelphia was only the third-hottest July on record. According to PhillyWeather, “The average temperature last month came in at 81.76 degrees, besting out 2010 by .02 degree … July 2012 was one degree warmer over 31 days than 2010 was.” And in facts that will make you sweat just thinking about it, this past month sported 21 days of 90 degrees or higher, tying a record that’s been set four times (including last year). After a month like that, we forget what snow feels like.
[Graph via PhillyWeather]
