First Day Of Fall...Where, Exactly?


You certainly can’t tell it’s the first day of fall here in Phoenix. The high today is expected to be 108. That’s hotter than most places get in summer! This has been the most uncomfortable summer that I can remember and I was here for the record 122 degree day.

I think two factors contributed to me just being so very, very done with the heat. One, is that we had a fairly moderate spring and beginning of summer. We were just blithely enjoying the nice weather until, wham!, it was hotter than hades. I don’t recall any gradual shift in the process at all. It was nice then it was hot. The end.

The other factor was August. Holy cow, was it brutal. Don’t believe me? Check out all of the records that were set:

113 °F on Aug 2 Tied Record High

112 °F on Aug 18 Set Record High

113 °F on Aug 22 Set Record High

114 °F on Aug 23 Set Record High

113 °F on Aug 25 Set Record High

117 °F on Aug 26 Set Record High

113 °F on Aug 30 Set Record High

90 °F on Aug 15 Tied Record High Low

90 °F on Aug 24 Tied Record High Low

92 °F on Aug 25 Set Record High Low

93 °F on Aug 26 Set Record High Low

90 °F on Aug 27 Set Record High Low

89 °F on Aug 28 Set Record High Low

91 °F on Aug 31 Tied Record High Low

Here are some more stats:

  • The average temperature of 98.3 F in Phoenix ties July 2009 as the hottest month (of any month) on record.
  • The average high temperature in Phoenix of 109.0 F makes August 2011 the fourth warmest month (of any month) on record as measured by average high temperature.
  • The average low temperature in Phoenix of 87.5 F makes August 2011 the warmest month (of any month) on record as measured by average low temperature
  • The high temperature of 117 F on 26 August 2011 set a new record as the hottest temperature ever recorded during the month of August in Phoenix (previous record was 116 F).
  • There were 13 days with a high temperature of at least 110 F in Phoenix, breaking the old record of 11 set in 1995 and 2009 for the month of August.
  • There have been 31 days so far this year in Phoenix with a high temperature of at least 110 F. The record is 32 set in 2007.
  • There were 8 days with a low temperature of at least 90 F in Phoenix, breaking the old record of 7 set in 2007 for the month of August.
  • The coolest temperature during August 2011 in Phoenix was the low of 81 F on August 2, making August 2011 the first month on record to not have a low temperature of at least 80 F or lower.

I can’t wait for it to cool off, I just don’t know when that will be. When it finally does and you find me complaining about being cold, punch me in the head. After this summer, cold will be very welcome. (Clarification to the punching offer, it’s only if I complain about Phoenix. I’m sure I’ll be bitching about Calgary soon enough.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

February 2020

Image
Most of 2020 sucked. But, there were some good moments that made memories to cling to. I'm going to review some of those moments from each month. (Disclaimer - my memory isn't what it used to be so this is my story and I'm sticking to it regardless of reality.) I moved into my house in May of 2019 and it was already hot out so I used the Arizona summer as an excuse not to do anything to my patio or yard. I don't recall what excuse I used to justify ignoring the both in the fall and winter. Let's go with complete laziness. It's entirely plausible. However, I had to get on the stick and pretty it up because I had a bunch of company scheduled for the spring. The first thing I did was get some inexpensive chairs from Target for my beat up table. I honestly thought I could jam them into my car. I really, really did. One would never guess I was a Tetris master. After several futile attempts, this is how it ultimately went down. Adam (answering cell): Hi, Kathy! Me: Hi
Read more

March 2020

Image
Most of 2020 sucked. But, there were some good moments that made memories to cling to. I'm going to review some of those moments from each month. (Disclaimer - my memory isn't what it used to be so this is my story and I'm sticking to it regardless of reality.) The home improvements continued in March. More complaining from Steven continued as well. Bzzzz. Bzzzz. Party lights on the back patio. Solar lights on the driveway and front patio. Hanging the lights was easy. The front lights were more challenging. Apparently, my front yard is a shallow layer of gravel on top of packed dirt impersonating concrete. Steven ended up digging holes with a screwdriver then shoving the bases of the lights in while I followed behind and attached the actual light part. It looks great except that I think all of the batteries (yep, solar lights with batteries) have worn out now so I need to replace them. It sure made my house easier to find at night. As is my way, I waited until the last minu
Read more

May 2020

Image
Most of 2020 sucked. But, there were some good moments that made memories to cling to. I'm going to review some of those moments from each month. (Disclaimer - my memory isn't what it used to be so this is my story and I'm sticking to it regardless of reality.) My birthday is in May. I don't make a big deal out of it because I don't want to do the math. Seriously. It's just not possible that I'm this old. Celebrating in a quarantine is right up my alley. However, my friends and family thought differently. Birthday cards from around the country. My friend Jim started a secret (to me) Facebook event and asked mutual friends to mail me a card. Funny side story, he put the wrong ZIP for my address. I imagine the post office staff in 85033 enjoyed processing those forwards a lot. It was very thoughtful and fun and my pals Brenda and Scott sent me a new game to play as well. Have I mentioned lately that my friends are better humans than I? They are. Drop offs and
Read more