From: WeatherNation
It’s that wonderful time of year, where we all look forward to celebrating our country’s birthday while sweating over a barbeque while the sun beats on our shoulders. Ahhhhh, July 4th.
For most of the United States, it’s almost a guarantee that hot, summer-like temperatures will accompany the 4th of July. Always an great excuse to take a dip in the pool, or down an icy, cold lemonade.
This year will also feature some very toasty temperatures as we celebrate America. Just take a look at the temperature forecast for this 4th of July, 2017.
The forecast for Tuesday, July 4, 2017
But, it could be worse! Those in the Midwest probably recall just a few years ago when the mercury soared into the triple digits on the 4th. From Detroit to St Louis to Chicago, daily record high temperatures were set in 2012, making it the hottest 4th of July on record. This fell within one of the worst heat waves on record for the Chicago area, rivaling the August 1947 and early July 1911 stretches of 100+ degree heat.
The map below shows the highest temperature on record for the 4th of July (ranging through various years).
Hottest temperatures on record for the date on the 4th of July (through varying years)
Other notably hot July 4th records include New York City, where the temperature soared to an oppressive 102 at Central Park in the year 1949.
The longest standing high temp record of these cities shown? That record goes to Denver, holding the daily max temperature record of 102 set on July 4, 1874!
To share your 4th of July weather memories, tweet to us or share your story on Facebook! We’d love to hear what you remember as the most extreme 4th of July.
From all of us here at WeatherNation, have a safe and happy 4th of July holiday!
Happy July 4 … and remember, it could be worse. WTF (What’s This For)?
I really don’t get the point of the article. It doesn’t even seem to be CAGW alarmist propaganda. They didn’t even say, “This is what you can expect in our over heated future.”
“I really don’t get the point of the article.”
Its a preemptive strike.
I live at the bottom of the planet, so winter is just starting to bite on 4th of July – but happy Independence Day to all the Americans.
I have to say Winter’s bite is pretty mild here so far this year, and we haven’t had ponded water freezing over for many years – not like it did every year in the 1950s. You can almost get through the winter without a jersey these days.
You’re not the only ones having a scorcher – I noticed the audience for Stephen Hawking’s 75th birthday address in London – where he said Trump is helping to bring climatic calamity – were all stripped down and fanning themselves madly with their programs. Maybe the air conditioning broke down.
“Winter’s bite is pretty mild here so far this year”
You don’t live in Canberra. Two consecutive -8 Centigrade mornings in a row.
Jack,
Maybe Professor Hawking took a page from Hanson for his initial senate testimony on climate change – turn off the A/C to give the audience the subconscious reinforcement of the Global Warming message.
Hivemind – no, Hawkes Bay NZ. By the sea – it’s warmer than it used to be you know! That lake you guys have (Burley Griffin?) is too small to moderate the weather – probably freezes over!
Cheers
Owen, he didn’t. ….did he?
I just spent some time near Canberra and needed much more than a Jersey. Down came in very handy.
I bet you’ve not reduced the historically highs in line with procedure.
I think the WeatherNation report is to show how normal variance can be quite large. If they showed similar two maps for New Years Day we would see variance at the other end of normal. Of course I might be biased because this display of normal variance fits my ideas about no detectable signal against the background of normal climate variance.
The point of the article is to show that there have been hotter temperatures on the 4th of July. I watch WeatherNation as a very happy change from the Idiocy of Weather Channel/ClimateChange Channel. Real weather (almost) 24/7.
Here, today’s forecast high is 75°F and it will probably be the warmest day yet this year.
Yesterday I noticed a field of sweet corn that is knee high. Lake Michigan is approaching significantly high levels. In the mid-Eighties the ferry’s dock apron was submerged, but it appears at least a foot above the Lake. Private docks are underwater.
This afternoon neighbors will gather with beer and brats. At 1930 the parade to the ballfield steps off. I will walk ahead of the parade to instruct proper honors, “Happy Independence Day Ladies and Gentlemen! As our National Flag approaches, please stand, uncover, and render a proper salute. Happy Independence Day.” I will instruct so from ‘attention’, and demonstrate uncovering and hand-on-heart salute every 25 paces or so.
We are accustomed to wearing jackets while watching the fireworks display, and having a blanket at hand.
I’m in Toronto and it’s a similar situation with Lake Ontario–docks are all under water. The islands just off downtown, which are our local summer wonderland, aren’t expected to open until August because of high water levels swamping the fields. By then summer is nearly over.
Meanwhile, yesterday, our day off for the July 1 holiday, was one of the first truly beautiful days in a cold wet spring-summer. Looking at yesterday’s temperature map, you might think we’ve been having a glorious summer. We haven’t.
Out West I had the heat on June 27th. Can’t remember that for many, many years.
Tony Heller just did a great video on this very topic –
+1
Nice story. The map would be better if you added the years along with the cities and records.
Denver at 102F in 1874? That temperature is clearly erroneous! Give NASA a couple of days and they will “homogenize” it to below 90F.
1874?
it will be homogenised, with a caustic aside about the competence and, perhaps, the motives, of the observers ‘in those days’; and come out at about 65 F.
Auto
Mods – yes – this is /Sarc. A bit.
It’ll probably be below 68 F, though!
Here in western PA we are looking at mid 80s, maybe even 90! Corn is looking good, some got planted a bit late because of rain, already been cutting hay, alfalfa, timothy and such, everything else is looking to hit a normal harvest.
I was born in (and again live in) the U.P. of Michigan. Around 18-20 or so years ago, I came home for the 4th and when we got up here, everyone was complaining about the heat wave they had going on. The day, standing (okay, sitting much of the time) in the Escanaba river, fishing was a pleasure. The 3rd, at 5pm the temp was 98f. Only one of my relatives had air conditioning (she has heart issues and really, really, needs it).
The high for the 4th was a screaming 42f.
Well the heat wave was certainly over. “Gee, maybe we need to go buy a window unit.” to “Honey, turn on the heater” in just a few hours
High: 92
Normal: 90
Record: 109 (1969)
Regardless of the temps, the coloration scheme on those maps is a joke… it makes it seem like 80ºF temperatures are “red hot”. A lot of people look at these weather maps, see the country covered in red, and are alarmed by the apparent oppressive heat.
In actuality, many of these temps are well below normal for this time of year in these places.
I suggest the map coloration scheme should be based on the average temperature for any day in any place, and only shade toward red if it is well above that average. Below average should be cool colors.
That is courtesy of blending PR/Advertising with meteorology. It is no longer about reporting the weather, it is a concerted effort to manipulate people to a particular political agenda. Just as all local “news” weather segments are labeled Severe Weather Team with suitably flashy graphics of lightening and such, instead of just being “And now our local weather, with meteorologist Les Humid.” And they can’t figure out why more and more people consider them ALL to be nothing more than self-serving liars.
FWIW, (very little), here near Concord NH. http://wermenh.com/wx/current.html
Today will get up to about 80F with dew points around 50F. Doesn’t get much better than that for a summer day.
Inyokern (and China Lake) should get to 108 today. Hot, but not stinkin hot. Record for this date is 113, set in 1991. All time high temp is 119, set in 1972.
As for
That’s easy – a derecho (I didn’t know that term until years later or that the storm was one until more years had passed) came through home near Cleveland OH. It was the first time I saw lightning crawl along the underside of a thunderstorm. My brother and sister were at lakefront events that got flooded (and fireworks displays canceled.) By far the biggest summertime event in my time in Ohio. (But nowhere close to the Northeast Blizzard of ’78 in eastern Massachusetts, an experience that cannot be improved upon.)
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/jul41969page.htm
http://www.cleveland.com/remembers/index.ssf/2013/07/on_july_4_1969_a_storm_ripped.html
I remember that storm very well. I remember visiting Indian Hollow golf course near Grafton, Ohio a month or so after that storm. Part of the course sits in a valley which is crossed by the Indian Hollow river. The river flooded because of that storm and filled up that valley. There was a tree in that valley with a sign marking the high water mark of that flood.. it was about 10 feet up that tree.
It was the summer of 69 and my family moved from Mississippi to Red Lodge Montana . We arrived on or close to the 4th of July. It snowed!
Happy Independence Day to all the Americans, and specially to those who ancestors came from hills & mountains of Monte Negro.
In my rural area in the central Appalachians at a relatively low area (900′ elev), there is a “wall” of 90F in the summer. As long as there is enough moisture, the temp cannot exceed 90F, even tho nearby urban areas commonly exceed it. This yr is typical — plenty of rain, and the highest temp has been 89F, while nearby urban spots were low to mid-90s. Several cool summers just recently had their highest highs of — 89F. Admittedly, last summer’s high during its driest (late July) period was a whopping 95F for an hr or so. Ooooowww, scary…..
And this is located very near where MD’s all-time record high was set, 109F, on July 10th, 1936.
3/4 of a continent away in Saskatchewan our all time high was 45C or 113 F in 1937. But really, it was colder in the past. Maybe the numbers were just smaller or something.
1936? 1937? that was such a weird decade!
The 2nd image is a map with Seattle and Portland representing the USA’s Pacific Northwest. I don’t want to start a fight, but will simply say both are fine places to be from.
Richland, WA [JULY: 110°F., 1968] [AUG.: 113°F., 1961] is a place that ought to be included to represent that large area east of the Cascade Mountains. {I did not find highs for the 4th – those ° above are the monthly highs on Intellicast.}
For July 4, 2017 the forecast is for 94°F.
Many years ago fireworks were to be set off from the top of Stone Mountain, GA.
Lightning hit the top before the official start.
The uncontrolled display was spectacular.
We’ve already exceeded the predicted high on that map for my neck of the Upper Midwest woods. It is worse than we thought. I mean, it’s 84F and the dewpoint in 66F! The horror!!
“To share your 4th of July weather memories, tweet to us or share your story on Facebook! We’d love to hear what you remember as the most extreme 4th of July.”
Severe thunderstorm with winds over 80mph toppled 70% of the trees on our cabin property in NW Wisconsin 2011. 6 Days of clean-up in 90+ degree heat and humidity with no electric. Drank so much water and gatorade, I mean gallons upon gallons over the 6 day period and became an expert woodsman!
But…uff da! It was intense and losing oaks, white pines, maples and a lot of the shade on our property was sad but the cabin itself only had minor damage.
Every year for the past 12 years, with only one exception, we have hosted a neighborhood 3rd of July BBQ. It’s always hot in Utah where we live by this time of year, and being a fair skinned redhead, I DO NOT tolerate high outdoor temps well.
I usually don’t even begin to decorate for the party until late afternoon when it’s shady on the side of the house where we have the party, simply because the usual high 98 -102 temp means I need shade to even function outdoors. Yesterday I was outside most of the day, in the Sun often, and the late afternoon/evening temps were perfect…high 80’s.
Today’s forecasted high is 96. We’re much cooler this year than “normal”.
I don’t do facebook or tweet, but the record high for July 4th on the little spot on the globe I live in now (Columbus Ohio area) was 104 set in 1911. The record low was 47 set in 1968.
I didn’t live in the Columbus area in 1968 for it’s record low. And I’m not 106.
For where I was living in 1968 (Kentucky, about 5 miles south of Cincinnati Ohio), the record high was 102 set set, again, in 1911. The record low was 50 set, again, in 1968.
I was between grade school and high school in July of 1968. I have no specific memories of that 4th of July.
But I do remember a 4th of July when I was still in grade school. We lived in an ideal place to set off fireworks (legal and illegal). Our house was where all the Dad’s family came on the 4th of July. It was an annual event.
One year it was cancelled. And us kids weren’t even allowed sparklers. The reason was a drought. Fire hazard.
(I also remember that they were asking local high school students to help control the grass fires in a local municipal park.)
It peaked at 69 deg F at our place. Then we met up with friends not just under the coastal stratus, but IN the coastal stratus (owing to location atop a hill near the beach). The West Coast is the best coast.
I’ve found that, on Earth’s northern hemisphere, it’s been very consistently warm in July.
Yep! Seems to do that a lot.