By Erik M. Lunsford, APLeniel Fields of K&K Maintenance wipes his face in the heat as he maintains the grounds at the Franklin School Apartments near downtown St. Louis on July 23. St. Louis endured its hottest month on record in July, as did the nation as a whole.
By Erik M. Lunsford, APLeniel Fields of K&K Maintenance wipes his face in the heat as he maintains the grounds at the Franklin School Apartments near downtown St. Louis on July 23. St. Louis endured its hottest month on record in July, as did the nation as a whole.
July's average temperature for the contiguous USA was 77.6 degrees Fahrenheit, eclipsing the record set during the heart of the Dust Bowl in 1936, federal scientists announced Wednesday."The extent of the heat this year was much more widespread than in July 1936," says Jake Crouch of the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.After a brief cooling trend and occasional showers this week in the central USA, "the heat will try to make a big comeback next week," says AccuWeather senior meteorologist Jack Boston.Some drought relief is possible in the fall in the central and southern Plains, but warm, dry weather should continue in the upper Midwest and around the Great Lakes, he says.According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the average July temperature was 3.3 degrees above the 20th-century average and the hottest July and hottest month in records dating to 1895. The previous warmest month was July 1936 (77.4 degrees ).This July and July 1936 featured a large ridge of high pressure over the center of the country that kept temperatures sizzling, Crouch says. The current high-pressure ridge, which prevents clouds and rain from forming, has been in place since March.The worst July heat was in the Midwest, the Plains and along the Eastern Seaboard. In all, 44 states had above-average temperatures in July, although only Virginia saw its hottest July.The heat has gone hand-in-hand with a relentless drought now encompassing almost 64% of the contiguous states, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a federal website.The January-July period was also the warmest first seven months of any year for the USA, NOAA says. The national temperature of 56.4 degrees was 4.3 above the long-term average. Most of the contiguous USA had record and near-record warmth for the seven months, except the Pacific Northwest, which was near average.The heat has not created corresponding record demands on the power grid. Power company officials and energy analysts such as Jim Owen of the Edison Electric Institute, which follows electrical usage for private customers, say years of conservation practices — including utilities giving customers incentives to shut off air conditioning during peak demand — have paid off.The U.S. power grid has been largely blackout-free through the heat wave, in contrast to widespread outages in India.Globally, the weather has been warmer than average this year but not record hot. For instance, the South Pole's average July temperature of 76 degrees below zero was about average. On July 15, the low there hit a nippy -104 degrees.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.