Record-breaking heat

The end of last week, and Friday in particular, featured some of the hottest temperatures Connecticut and much of the east coast have felt in recorded history. Daily highs and highest minimum temperatures were shattered across the region. Unfortunately, our small state is covered by three different offices of the National Weather Service, but this summary below from Upton (covering Connecticut's four southern counties) is terrific. Bear in mind that there are only so many official weather stations so us looking at other states these offices cover is inevitable and necessary.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
743 AM EDT MON JUL 25 2011

...PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...

THE FOLLOWING ARE UNOFFICIAL OBSERVATIONS FOR 7/22/2011 AND 7/23/2011
FROM MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT. THIS SUMMARY IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON OUR
HOME PAGE AT WEATHER.GOV/NYC

******TEMPERATURE READINGS AND RECORDS FOR THE 6 CLIMATE SITES******

LOCATION                 HIGH           LOW           DATE
                   TEMPERATURE      TEMPERATURE

CENTRAL PARK NY         104              84        7/22/2011

*104 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD OF 101 SET IN 1957. THIS TIED THE SECOND
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE ON RECORD WHICH WAS SET ON 7/21/1977 AND AUGUST
7 1918. THE ALL TIME HIGHEST TEMPERATURE REMAINS AT 106 WHICH WAS
SET ON 7/9/1936.
*84 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD FOR HIGHEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE.
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 80 SET IN 1957. THIS ALSO TIED THE ALL TIME
HIGHEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WHICH WAS SET ON 7/15/1995,
8/14/1908 AND 7/7/1908.

CENTRAL PARK NY         100              83        7/23/2011

*100 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD OF 99 SET IN 1991.
*83 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD FOR HIGHEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE. PREVIOUS
RECORD WAS 81 SET IN 1978.

OTHER CENTRAL PARK NY CLIMATE STATISTICS:

*AS OF 7/23/2011, CENTRAL PARK NY HAS HAD 10 DAYS OVER 90 DEGREES AND
2 OVER 100 IN THE MONTH OF JULY. FOR 2011...CENTRAL PARK HAS HAD 12
DAYS OVER 90 DEGREES AND 1 OVER 100. THE TOP NUMBER OF 90 DEGREES
DAY FOR JULY IS 20 WHICH WAS IN 1993. THE TOP NUMBER NUMBER OF 90
DEGREES DAY FOR A YEAR WAS 39 WHICH WAS IN 1993 AND 1991.


NYC/LA GUARDIA AIRPORT   104             85        7/22/2011

*104 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD OF 101 SET IN 1998. THIS ALSO TIED THE
SECOND HIGHEST TEMPERATURE ON RECORD WHICH WAS SET ON 8/9/2001.
THE ALL TIME HIGHEST TEMPERATURE REMAINS AT 107 WHICH WAS SET ON
7/3/1966.
*85 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD FOR HIGHEST MINIMUM
TEMPERATURE. PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 81 SET IN 1957. THE ALL TIME
HIGHEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE REMAINS AT 86 WHICH WAS SET ON 8/2/2006
AND 7/5/1999.

NYC/LA GUARDIA AIRPORT    99             79        7/23/2011

*79 TIED THE SECOND HIGHEST DAILY MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WHICH WAS SET
IN 1955.


NYC/JFK AIRPORT          103             76        7/22/2011

*103 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD OF 98 SET IN 1998. 103 IS NOW THE SECOND
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED AT JFK. THE ALL TIME HIGHEST REMAINS AT
104 WHICH WAS SET ON 7/3/1966.
*76 TIED THE SECOND HIGHEST DAILY MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WHICH WAS SET
IN 1998, 1978 AND 1949. THE ALL TIME HIGHEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE
REMAINS AT 82 WHICH WAS SET ON 7/6/1999.

NYC/JFK AIRPORT          102             79        7/23/2011

*102 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD OF 100 SET IN 1972.
*79 TIED THE DAILY RECORD FOR HIGHEST DAILY MINIMUM TEMPERATURE
WHICH WAS SET IN 1978.


NEWARK AIRPORT           108             86        7/22/2011

*108 BROKE THE ALL TIME HIGHEST TEMPERATURE ON RECORD WHICH WAS 105
LAST SET ON 8/5/2001. 108 ALSO BROKE THE DAILY RECORD WHICH WAS 101
SET IN 1957.
*86 BROKE THE ALL TIME HIGHEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE ON RECORD WHICH
WAS 84 SET ON 7/10/1993. THIS ALSO BROKE THE DAILY HIGHEST MINIMUM
TEMPERATURE OF 78 SET IN 1978.

NEWARK AIRPORT           102             86        7/23/2011

*102 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD OF 100 SET IN 1955.
*86 TIES THE ALL TIME HIGHEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE ON RECORD WHICH
WAS SET ON 7/22/2011.


ISLIP AIRPORT            100             76        7/22/2011

*100 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD OF 96 THAT WAS SET IN 1998. THE ALL TIME
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE REMAINS AT 102 WHICH WAS SET ON 7/5/1999.
*76 IS NOW THE SECOND HIGHEST DAILY MINIMUM TEMPERATURE. THE HIGHEST
REMAINS 77 WHICH WAS SET IN 1994.

ISLIP AIRPORT             97             77        7/23/2011

*97 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD OF 95 SET IN 1991.
*77 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD OF HIGHEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WHICH WAS
74 SET IN 1998, 1995 AND 1990. 77 ALSO TIED THE ALL TIME HIGHEST
DAILY MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WAS SET IN 1994.


BRIDGEPORT AIRPORT       103             77        7/22/2011

*103 TIED THE ALL TIME HIGHEST TEMPERATURE AND THE DAILY HIGH
TEMPERATURE...BOTH SET ON 7/22/1957.
*77 BREAKS THE DAILY RECORD FOR HIGHEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE.
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 76 SET IN 1994. THE ALL TIME HIGHEST MINIMUM
TEMPERATURE IS 80 WHICH WAS SET ON 7/2/2002.

BRIDGEPORT AIRPORT        96             75        7/23/2011

*96 BROKE THE DAILY RECORD OF 94 SET IN 1972.
*75 IS NOW THE SECOND HIGHEST DAILY MINIMUM TEMPERATURE.

LN/JP

Yes, the airport in Stratford (Bridgeport's) hit 103, tying the all-time high recorded amazingly on the same date in 1953. Additionally, Hartford broke their all-time high as they hit 103 on July 22, and they have records all the way back to 1904. Connecticut's record high for the entire state is 106 from Danbury on July 15, 1995. Many educated people cast doubt on that reading, but it is our official record. If I were to list off all of the seemingly crazy new records this would be the longest blog post ever.

What came to mind for me from a bird and conservation standpoint was that fortunately this occurred late enough in the year for most young birds to have fledged. The exceptions would be late-nesting birds or species that nest multiple times in a given year. Many species that nest in boxes or gourds, like Purple Martins, can see their young perish from overheating. Any bird is vulnerable to temperature extremes, though. You probably noticed that most were tucked away in shady areas and less active during the hottest days. Let us hope most of them got through the heat without any harm done.


Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician