RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – This July has been hot! And we have the data to prove it now, not just our senses. After our first triple-digit temperature of the year June 29 (the high in Richmond was 103 degrees F), we saw our first triple digit temperature of July at the beginning of the month on July 5, when we hit our high of 102 degrees. We surpassed 100 again on July 7 with a high of 104 degrees (our hottest temperature so far of 2012), and also on July 8 with a high of 103 degrees. The first week in July, we experienced a heat wave with highs in the upper 90s into triple digit temperatures. The average high temperature for early July is 90 degrees.
According to the National Weather Service in Wakefield’s Preliminary Climate Data for July, the average temperature in Richmond for this month is 82.7 degrees F, which is the second warmest on record. This may sound hot, but compared to previous years it’s actually in a tight race for the top hottest July months. Here’s the updated hottest Julys on Record list for Richmond International Airport:
YEAR: TEMP
2010: 82.8
2012: 82.7
1993: 82.4
1887: 82.3
2011: 82.0
2005: 81.7
1894: 81.6
2006: 81.5
1977: 81.32
1955: 81.3
1987: 81.27
See how other months in the Summer compare with their average temperatures for the yearHERE. Comparatively, you see much wider spreads in average temperatures in most notably the Fall and Winter months for the top tens. Whereas the July list only has a degree and a half spread between the hottest and tenth hottest on record, December and January have a five degree Fahrenheit spread between the top and bottom of the warmest on record list. Yes, it’s significant that this July is our second hottest in 132 years of record-keeping for Richmond, but it’s a pretty tight race.
Meteorologist Carrie Rose and Shaleni Henry
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