Hottest July Ever

[happ]

Interested in how hot July was nationwide and if any records were broken.

July 2006 was the hottest July ever in Los Angeles.  Suburban San Fernando valley recorded an all-time maximum of 119F/48.3C.

I've been a "weather watcher" for National Weather Service for 26 years.

JULY 2006 [elevation 910F/227M

AveMax: 94.7 NormMax: 88/31C

AveMin: 71.4 NormMin: 66/19C

Hot and quite humid with isolated thunderstorms much of the month but nothing more than a trace on several days at my station.

Ocean temps have been warmer than normal nearly all summer but periodically spike into "El Nino"-like readings of 80F+  increasing mugginess at night.

Haven't noticed any damage to palms since they are well-watered but flowering on michelia champaca showed burns.

Just wondering if very high heat can damaged palm trees, in general?

Native washingonia fififera can handle any temps, it seems.  Howea foresteriana & euterpe edulis are in mostly shade. Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, veitchia arecina, wodyetia bifurcata, phoenix roebelenii & roystonea regia look fine, so far  

happ

[Neofolis]

England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each had the hottest July on record as well.  I wonder how many other places in the northern hemisphere experienced the same thing.  From viewing European weather maps daily, I would think quite a few places in northern Europe, particularly northwest Europe, experienced record July averages.

[SubTropicRay]

Unfortunately Neo, a warm/hot summer can be followed by a colder than normal winter.  If only we could save a few degrees now for nights with the howling winter wind.

[spockvr6]

(Ray, Tampa @ Aug. 07 2006,12:32)

QUOTE

If only we could save a few degrees now for nights with the howling winter wind.

Those howling winds are what trouble me Ray as even my yard full of heaters blasting away is going to have a hard time keeping things warm.

[spockvr6]

(happ @ Aug. 06 2006,16:15)

QUOTE

Interested in how hot July was nationwide and if any records were broken.

Happ -

In my personal spot on the map, July was just about average.  For the month of July my weather station logged averages right around 92/75 which is pretty much spot on where they should be.  I think the high for the month was 95F.  Our record highs and average highs are many times only a few degrees apart as the large water masses tend to act as a very nice buffer.  And, many times the temperature I log as the low does not come in the morning, but rather in late afternoon during a downpour.

[NBTX11]

(happ @ Aug. 06 2006,16:15)

QUOTE

JULY 2006 [elevation 910F/227M

AveMax: 94.7 NormMax: 88/31C

AveMin: 71.4 NormMin: 66/19C

That's not really that hot compared to a lot of locations.   Areas in TX probably averaged around 100F, AZ and desert socal are much hotter, Even FL averages in the low 90s every year for months at a time.  I know it's hot for coastal so cal though, and you guys had a brutal stretch of heat...

[elHoagie]

(happ @ Aug. 06 2006,16:15)

QUOTE

Just wondering if very high heat can damaged palm trees, in general?

Happ,

I'm growing well over one hundred species palms, most of them small seedlings, and very few of them reacted at all to the extreme temperature on July 21.  It made it up to about 43C (109F) that day at my place, and the only problem I saw was that about half the leaflets on my Hedeyscepe that's under 40% shade cloth turned brown and mushy and shriveled up.

Jack

[JakeK]

Almost every time the Cincinnati area has recorded a hot summer it has always been followed by a nasty winter. On average though, the airport where official temperatures are recorded are always much lower than what the other reporting stations report, sometimes by as much as 16 degrees during the winter. Downtown Cincinnati will have majesty palms and ficus benjamina (tropical annuals in larges street-side pots) with no damage into mid-December whereas the airport recorded the first killing freeze in late October.

Lytle Park in downtown has Queens growing in the ground, so this year I will record the time they start showing damage, since the business that maintains them usually doesn't come to rip them out until they are dead.

This climates greatly limits the ability to grow palms outdoors, mainly to just two species and a colder than normal winter usually equals death to all but the most established of those two species. So if the theory holds up, this winter will be bad.

[NBTX11]

(JakeK @ Aug. 07 2006,14:55)

QUOTE

Almost every time the Cincinnati area has recorded a hot summer it has always been followed by a nasty winter. On average though, the airport where official temperatures are recorded are always much lower than what the other reporting stations report, sometimes by as much as 16 degrees during the winter. Downtown Cincinnati will have majesty palms and ficus benjamina (tropical annuals in larges street-side pots) with no damage into mid-December whereas the airport recorded the first killing freeze in late October.

Lytle Park in downtown has Queens growing in the ground, so this year I will record the time they start showing damage, since the business that maintains them usually doesn't come to rip them out until they are dead.

This climates greatly limits the ability to grow palms outdoors, mainly to just two species and a colder than normal winter usually equals death to all but the most established of those two species. So if the theory holds up, this winter will be bad.

Do you have any palms planted permanently outdoors in Cincinnati.  They are zone 6 correct...

[BobbyinNY]

Do you have any palms planted permanently outdoors in Cincinnati.  They are zone 6 correct...

I can't imagine any permanant palms in Cincinatti... that's a whole zone colder than I am.

[NBTX11]

(BobbyinNY @ Aug. 07 2006,15:33)

QUOTE

Do you have any palms planted permanently outdoors in Cincinnati.  They are zone 6 correct...

I can't imagine any permanant palms in Cincinatti... that's a whole zone colder than I am.

Well, I was thinking sabal minor or something like that.

[JakeK]

(BobbyinNY @ Aug. 07 2006,15:33)

QUOTE

Do you have any palms planted permanently outdoors in Cincinnati.  They are zone 6 correct...

I can't imagine any permanant palms in Cincinatti... that's a whole zone colder than I am.

Start believing because there are plenty of Sabal minors and needles around.

I have a needle here that has about six pups suckering off the base. I even got seeds from it this year, probably sterile though.

Miami U in Oxford has at least a dozen sabal minors and needles planted around that campus that have been there for at least 8 years.

Mount St. Joseph College also has a needle palm that has survived for at least 4 years.

A restaurant on the river called the Waterfront removed a Trachycarpus fortunei this spring that had been planted outdoors and had survived for over a decade.

[BobbyinNY]

Start believing because there are plenty of Sabal minors and needles around.

I have a needle here that has about six pups suckering off the base. I even got seeds from it this year, probably sterile though.

Miami U in Oxford has at least a dozen sabal minors and needles planted around that campus that have been there for at least 8 years.

Mount St. Joseph College also has a needle palm that has survived for at least 4 years.

A restaurant on the river called the Waterfront removed a Trachycarpus fortunei this spring that had been planted outdoors and had survived for over a decade.

That's great news.... cause I have a Trachy & a Chamaerops Humilus that I planted and I'm hoping they'll survive unprotected.... I actually might just be tempted to protect them this first year....

[happ]

Enjoy reading the feedback and delighted to "shop talk" climate & plant growth.  

In my personal spot on the map, July was just about average.  For the month of July my weather station logged averages right around 92/75 which is pretty much spot on where they should be.  I think the high for the month was 95F.  Our record highs and average highs are many times only a few degrees apart as the large water masses tend to act as a very nice buffer.  And, many times the temperature I log as the low does not come in the morning, but rather in late afternoon during a downpour.

spockvr6

Florida can actually be more comfortable in summer than many areas of the country, esp the Southwest/Texas.  Glad to hear you were spared the heat and that this summer's Atlantic tropical season is quite unlike 2005.

That's not really that hot compared to a lot of locations.   Areas in TX probably averaged around 100F, AZ and desert socal are much hotter, Even FL averages in the low 90s every year for months at a time.  I know it's hot for coastal so cal though, and you guys had a brutal stretch of heat...

syersj

Understand your comments. LA is mid-latitude with Phoenix/Dallas/Atlanta.  Areas that routinely record 90's [100+ in Arizona] from late May into Septermber.  I live 15 east of Santa Monica near Pasadena and can see the Pacific on completely clear days [rare though they be].  Marine air modifies over land.  Los Angeles has multible micro-climates [e.g. Malibu: 75F & San Fernando valley 95F at the same time of day yet only 10 miles apart].

I'm growing well over one hundred species palms, most of them small seedlings, and very few of them reacted at all to the extreme temperature on July 21.  It made it up to about 43C (109F) that day at my place, and the only problem I saw was that about half the leaflets on my Hedeyscepe that's under 40% shade cloth turned brown and mushy and shriveled up.

Hi Jack

I completely lucked out with highest maximum only 103F and only 3 days above 100F.  I think the humidity helped a lot.  Santa ana heat sucks the moisture out of the ground and the winds make it hard to irrigate effectively.

Start believing because there are plenty of Sabal minors and needles around.

I have a needle here that has about six pups suckering off the base. I even got seeds from it this year, probably sterile though.

Miami U in Oxford has at least a dozen sabal minors and needles planted around that campus that have been there for at least 8 years.

Mount St. Joseph College also has a needle palm that has survived for at least 4 years.

A restaurant on the river called the Waterfront removed a Trachycarpus fortunei this spring that had been planted outdoors and had survived for over a decade.

JakeK

That's great news at your latitude.  Do the Great Lakes have much of an influence on Cincinatti during winter?

[NBTX11]

(happ @ Aug. 07 2006,22:25)

QUOTE

That's great news at your latitude.  Do the Great Lakes have much of an influence on Cincinatti during winter?

I can answer that, since I grew up in Michigan "the Great Lake State".  The great lakes do moderate weather "somewhat".  A little bit cooler in summer, a little bit warmer in winter.  Keep in mind this is a LITTLE bit.  That is opposed to Minnesota or Iowa.  In other words in might be 5 degrees warmer than those locations, but it is by NO means warm.  In brutal winters the lakes freeze over so they are no help at all.  I have seen them freeze over.  Then, let's talk about mountains of lake effect snow, if you live in a snow belt.  You might see between 100 to 150 inches of snow a winter even though, it is "milder".  So to basically answer your question, the great lakes are so far north that the areas around them are still pretty cold, zone 5 or 6.  Cinci, IMO is quite a bit south of the lakes on the KY border so the effects of the lakes are minimal.  They are quite a bit warmer, relatively speaking, than the great lakes area.

[Exotic Life]

Also for the netherlands we have the hottest July ever.

In 31 day's, 3 day's we don't have made to get to the 25C/ 77F. And 18 day's that the tempetures was going above the 30C/86F.

4 july it was hot with 35.6C/96F, but 19 July was even hotter, i recorded 37.2C/99F in the garden, that night was also the warmest night in the hole month. The tempeture don't go lower 22.7C/73F.

But now august starts very cool ....

[Neofolis]

It's interesting that a couple of you have mentioned bad winters following good summers, as it tends to be the other way round here, which makes sense, because we just had our worst winter for a decade.

[JakeK]

JakeK

That's great news at your latitude.  Do the Great Lakes have much of an influence on Cincinatti during winter?.

The only time the Great Lakes affect the Cincinnati area is when a bit of lake-effect snow from Lake Michigan sweeps down across Indiana. The result might be an inch of snow at worst. Lake Erie has no effect at all.

Suprisingly this area can grow cannas and elephant ears without digging (just need extra mulch). Also Albizia julibrissin can be a weed tree some years with seedlings sprouting everywhere. Crape myrtles grow very well here and Southern Magnolias are used as street trees. I even have a few seedlings that sprouted 3 years back.

I know all of that stuff isn't very tropical, but for an area that occasionally gets hit with winter lows around -15F, it is impressive.

All of my palms except the needles are in pots, so I never have to worry about winter hardiness.

Jake

[JakeK]

(BobbyinNY @ Aug. 07 2006,21:56)

QUOTE

That's great news.... cause I have a Trachy & a Chamaerops Humilus that I planted and I'm hoping they'll survive unprotected.... I actually might just be tempted to protect them this first year....

Bobby,

I would definitely try the Trachycarpus. My T. fortunei spent its first 3 winters out on the porch in a pot. I never brought it inside once and it is still growing with about 2.5 feet of clear trunk.

Mine does best in partial shade.

Jake

[Exotic Life]

(Neofolis @ Aug. 08 2006,03:21)

QUOTE

It's interesting that a couple of you have mentioned bad winters following good summers, as it tends to be the other way round here, which makes sense, because we just had our worst winter for a decade.

Neofolis,

Your right, KNMI the netherlands weather station say also the we have a bad winter last time ... but i don't have a stringer winter then before. If this winter can be mild, we have a good year for our palms

Greetz robbin

P.s i can remember that i have see a website of your garden ?

[NBTX11]

(JakeK @ Aug. 08 2006,07:55)

QUOTE

(BobbyinNY @ Aug. 07 2006,21:56)

QUOTE

That's great news.... cause I have a Trachy & a Chamaerops Humilus that I planted and I'm hoping they'll survive unprotected.... I actually might just be tempted to protect them this first year....

Bobby,

I would definitely try the Trachycarpus. My T. fortunei spent its first 3 winters out on the porch in a pot. I never brought it inside once and it is still growing with about 2.5 feet of clear trunk.

Mine does best in partial shade.

Jake

The trachys I see around here; the ones in shade seem to look the best.  They have much fuller crowns than the ones planted in full sunlight.  The ones planted in sun tend to have more straggly looking crowns.  Course we get blazing sun in summer...

[Neofolis]

(Exotic Life @ Aug. 08 2006,13:53)

QUOTE

P.s i can remember that i have see a website of your garden ?

Robbin my garden is so small, it's not even possible to take a photo of it, so I'll just stick with pictures of individual plants.  My plants are also fairly unimpressive at the moment, but time will change that.

[Exotic Life]

(Neofolis @ Aug. 08 2006,13:02)

QUOTE

(Exotic Life @ Aug. 08 2006,13:53)

QUOTE

P.s i can remember that i have see a website of your garden ?

Robbin my garden is so small, it's not even possible to take a photo of it, so I'll just stick with pictures of individual plants.  My plants are also fairly unimpressive at the moment, but time will change that.

Hi,

Time to move then

[happ]

(Exotic Life @ Aug. 08 2006,01:26)

QUOTE

Also for the netherlands we have the hottest July ever.

In 31 day's, 3 day's we don't have made to get to the 25C/ 77F. And 18 day's that the tempetures was going above the 30C/86F.

4 july it was hot with 35.6C/96F, but 19 July was even hotter, i recorded 37.2C/99F in the garden, that night was also the warmest night in the hole month. The tempeture don't go lower 22.7C/73F.

But now august starts very cool ....

Exotic Life

Those are amazing temperatures for a maritime climate.  Its been a cool August, relatively, in California also, though CPC forecast calls for warmer-than-normal over much of the US West.  

There may be something to the notion that a very cold winter is followed by a very hot summer or visa versa.  Recorded 112F/44C in LA during June 1990 followed by freezing temps in December.  That was the last frost in much of SoCal.  Way overdue for a freeze!

[Neofolis]

Just talking about freezes is making me shiver, can we stick with discussing nice, hot, sunny stuff please.

Robbin our August has also been much cooler than July, back to around seasonal average, but bearing in mind we have not had a below average August since 1993, it's a little disappointing.  No improvement on the long range forecast, but hopefully the second half of the month will be better.

[Steve]

It's been one of the hottest summers since I've lived in Georgia.  Almost every day has been in the mid or upper 90's for the past several weeks.  We've had a couple days at 98 or 99F (37C).  We haven't reached the 100F mark yet though.  We haven't had an overnight low below 70F/21C in a month.  Many mornings it's only gotten down to around 75F/24C with high humidity.  So most mornings I've had to run the air conditioning in my car.

Nowhere near record temps though.  Just a hotter than usual summer.  I don't mind it though.  I'm originally from Michigan.  I'll take this heat anyday over a Michigan winter!

[NBTX11]

(Steve @ Aug. 09 2006,14:40)

QUOTE

It's been one of the hottest summers since I've lived in Georgia.  Almost every day has been in the mid or upper 90's for the past several weeks.  We've had a couple days at 98 or 99F (37C).  We haven't reached the 100F mark yet though.  We haven't had an overnight low below 70F/21C in a month.  Many mornings it's only gotten down to around 75F/24C with high humidity.  So most mornings I've had to run the air conditioning in my car.

Nowhere near record temps though.  Just a hotter than usual summer.  I don't mind it though.  I'm originally from Michigan.  I'll take this heat anyday over a Michigan winter!

Same for me, I also from MI originally, and I hate, hate, hate cold weather.  Somewhere back in my mind, I can see visions of instantly freezing when I walked out the door in MI winters, being bundled up in about 6 layers of clothing.  I'll take the heat any day.

[jam99]

It seems past July had above the average temps on both sides of the pond (apart from the US SE and the Gulf coastal areas).

[Jay 9]

Great maps, where did you get those? Certainly August for us has been 'normal' ie cool and wet (18oC) but we needed the rain (?)

[Exotic Life]

August is here very,very wet !!

[jam99]

(Jay 9 @ Aug. 21 2006,05:11)

QUOTE

Great maps, where did you get those?

Jay, the maps are linked from the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) page.