TAMPA - Even for Floridians accustomed to summers of brutal and relentless heat, this has been a summer like few in the Tampa Bay area have seen.
Statistics prove it.
This year produced the hottest May through August ever recorded at a number of locations, including Tampa.
Until this year, the hottest stretch of those four months in Tampa was 1998.
It also was the hottest May through August for St. Petersburg, Lakeland, Inverness and tied for hottest in Sarasota. It was the second hottest in Brooksville.
Statistics show Bay area's summer is a sizzler
How about posting the whole article there Chris..... I've highlighted a couple of passages for you in case you missed them....like the passage where it says they won't equal the temp averaged in 1941, and they will tie for the record with FOUR other dates including 1951 OOOOPPSS, guess it's not such a big deal after all.
By NEIL JOHNSON
njohnson@tampatrib.com
Published: September 4, 2010
TAMPA - Even for Floridians accustomed to summers of brutal and relentless heat, this has been a summer like few in the Tampa Bay area have seen.
Statistics prove it.
This year produced the hottest May through August ever recorded at a number of locations, including Tampa.
Until this year, the hottest stretch of those four months in Tampa was 1998.
It also was the hottest May through August for St. Petersburg, Lakeland, Inverness and tied for hottest in Sarasota. It was the second hottest in Brooksville.
And August's average temperature of 84.4 degrees looks like it will end up tied with 1951 for the fourth-hottest August in Tampa since records started in 1890. The warmest August in Tampa was 1941 at 85.1 degrees.
That follows the fourth-hottest May, second-hottest June and third-hottest July on record in Tampa.
Tampa wasn't alone in the sauna.
August was among the top 10 hottest Augusts in Lakeland, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, and looks to be the hottest August on record for Inverness.
The heat was unrelenting. The average temperature in Tampa was higher than normal for 24 days in August, according to National Weather Service records.
Meteorologists point to a dome of high pressure that hunkered over not just Florida, but the entire Southeast since before summer started and stubbornly remained in place.
Not as many clouds form to provide shade from the pounding afternoon sun. Air sinks under high pressure and grows warmer as it descends. The lack of clouds translates into fewer cooling afternoon thunderstorms.
Normally the high pressure shifts more to the north as summer drags on, but it stayed in place this year.
Mornings when low temperatures stayed in the high 70s or even low 80s also contributed.
Warm starts to the morning make it easier for temperatures to rise into the middle or even high 90s by afternoon instead of staying in the low 90s where they're supposed to be.
The weather service tracks monthly records by averaging each day's highs and lows, so warmer mornings also drive up the average.
There may be a bit of relief in the next few days, even if only temporarily.
Some dry air is filtering over the state, bringing a slight drop to humidity levels. Daytime temperatures over the next few days should hover in the low 90s, where they are supposed to be at this time of year.
But the biggest change could be in the mornings when the lows might drop to the lower 70s and even high 60s in counties away from the coast.
Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731.
