Hottest Weather of the Summer This Week
Despite a relatively cool July —the mean July temperature was actually cooler than the mean June Temperature, both here in Lawrenceville and in Atlanta— it looks like August is going to be our hottest month of the year.
The short range, medium range, and long range forecasts are all calling for warmer than normal temperatures, and it looks like we may not get much rain to help out, at least until the middle of the month.
Temperatures will be approaching the 100 degree mark all this week in North Georgia. To make things worse, we’ll likely be seeing high dew points as well. That means that the humidity will be approaching the unbearable range. Take a look at the forecast dew points in Georgia for 2 PM Thursday:
If this forecast validates, we’ll see the heat index above 105 degrees, the danger level, several times this week.
Ultimately, it’s the moisture in the air that determines how we feel when we go outside. Although relative humidity is the measurement most people use to measure moisture content, the dew point temperature can provide a better measure of how uncomfortable conditions are. When the dew point rises to near 70 or above, most people are unlikely to want to be outside for very long.
The heat index also measures the apparent temperature. For more detail, take a look at this table showing the relationship between relative humidity, temperature, heat index, and dew point.
The reversal from the cool and wet July conditions to the hot and dry conditions for August isn’t going to do much to help the drought conditions in Georgia. Over the last month, the drought levels in Georgia haven’t changed very much. While the rain has kept lawns green in the short term, we will see a quick return to brown lawns without more rainfall.
As I’ve said before, tropical weather will probably be the key to breaking the drought. Despite the relatively quiet season so far, the latest forecast by Dr. Gray at Colorado State University is still calling for an above average hurricane season. The researchers are predicting 15 tropical storms for the season, down 2 from their May forecast, and eight hurricanes, down from nine in May. There’s also an above average chance of a major hurricane striking the US coast.
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