WSET.com - ABC13Spring Heat by Matt Ferguson

Spring Heat by Matt Ferguson

While the first day of summer is not until Tuesday, June 21st , I think we can all agree we've dealt with too much heat - too early. Thursday June 9th was the hottest day so far, as temperatures topped out in the mid to upper 90s. In fact, Lynchburg hit a high of 97, although it did not break the old record of 99 set back in 1933. Nevertheless it has been very hot for late spring. So far this year Danville, Lynchburg and Roanoke have had 9 days of 90 plus temperatures. That is above average for Lynchburg and Roanoke, as most years average only 4 days of 90 plus heat by June 15th.

With the hot end to spring many of you may be wondering. what to expect this summer? The latest from our colleagues at the Climate Prediction Center shows temperatures may not be too scorching hot across our region. The graphic below shows a June, July and August combined outlook. The orange colors indicate temperatures above average and the blue colors indicate temperatures below average. Notice the outlook illustrates hotter conditions from Florida then westward along the Gulf Coast States and especially around the Desert Southwest. For us it shows temperatures close to average.

I did a little research for our area of recent years that had hot Mays and Junes, which closely matched 2011. Some of the years included 2002, 2008 and 2010. In all of the years the summer temperatures as a whole ended up above normal. This contradicts the summer outlook posted by the Climate Prediction Center for our state. Therefore, only time will tell, but if you are looking for my forecast. I expect temperatures to remain above average this summer. If showers and thunderstorms pop-up often, this will keep temperatures from getting too hot. If things really begin to dry up, this could lead to high temperatures that are well above normal. In any case, it looks like this summer is one where you've got to do what you can to stay cool. Hopefully, we'll be surprised with a summer of adequate rainfall and temperatures that are tolerable!