Man, it's HOT outside!

[HK47]

Regarding the heat (and yes, it's 97 degrees in San Antonio), I wonder - is this a symptom of climate change (i.e., global warming and the presumptive greater volatility of weather), or a repeat of the patterns from past years like the 1980's and 1950's.

If it is a repeat of the 1950's, we'll have some hot, dry times.

[mempho]

Well, I hope that it's just a short-term setup and not indicative of a long-term pattern shift whether it be global warming or just a normal climatalogical cycle.

[TexasStooge]

The heat advisory for my area has finally expired.

However, at this hour, temps are at 100*F with a heat index of 101*F.

[breeze]

Oh, yeah....it was only in the upper 70°'s here, today! God bless that front
that moved through! We were baking in the 100°F plus heat, for the past
four days - today has been like fall! No rain - we're still parched,
but the temps are sooooo tolerable! Wooo-Hoooo!!!

[bob rulz]

Well, I hope that it's just a short-term setup and not indicative of a long-term pattern shift whether it be global warming or just a normal climatalogical cycle.

You mean hot summers like this haven't been going on for the last 5 years or so?

Could've fooled me...

July 2002 and July 2003 were the two hottest months on record here, and we set numerous records in both of them. The last 2 years weren't quite as bad, but they were still above average...in fact, here in Salt Lake City we haven't had a July with below-average temperatures since 1997, and this one could easily be the 5th hottest on record or so...it's been hot.

Yesterday we tied our record of 104 degrees, and it got to at least 101 today. We've had 2 days of 104 degrees, and 8 days of 100-degree heat (average is 5). We are currently at 14 straight days of at least 95 degrees (the record is 20). At least 1 more day of 100-degree heat is expected, and it's expected to stay above 95 all week (which would set a record). It's also expected to climb back above 100 again on Friday, and it's still supposed to be very close on other days.

I'm inside with my nice fans and swamp cooler, so as long as I'm not outside (I was earlier and it was miserable) then I'll be enjoying watching a possible record fall.